A Storm in the Night
by pharaoh-90
Summary: Following a storm, Naruto meets a new friend while in the orphanage. What effects will this have on his future?
1. Chapter 1

**A Storm in the Night**

**Ch 1**

It was just after dinner time at the orphanage in Konoha. Five year old Naruto has just finished his measly dinner, and has gone back to his room. It is the smallest room in the orphanage, except for the closets. There is a mattress on the floor, otherwise it's bare. There is one blanket, but it's so threadbare that it doesn't really count for much. He curls up on the old mattress, trying to keep warm. It's winter in Konoha, and although it isn't snowing, it's bitterly cold out.

Surprisingly, though, Naruto isn't especially cold. The room is drafty, especially at the moment, since there was currently a large thunderstorm over Konoha, and the old window didn't close right. He's content, though, since the other children tend to leave him alone there. Just as he's about to fall asleep, though, he hears a bunch of noise coming from downstairs. As he listens, he hears the orphanage lady arguing about something, and he manages to catch the words "storm," "orphanage," and "collapsed."

Turns out, one of the other orphanages had sustained damage in the storm, and part of the roof had collapsed, and the workers there had decided that it wasn't safe to stay, so they had brought the children there to the orphanage that Naruto was in. Naruto suddenly hears footsteps approaching his room. He looks over at the door, and the old lady who runs the orphanage sticks her head in, still talking to whoever is in the hallway.

"I'm sorry, but this is the only other room that has space at the moment. I really don't want to put anyone in the same room as _him,_ but we don't really have a choice. There isn't anywhere else."

Naruto remained still. As much as he wanted to know what was going on, he new it was better to remain quiet, since he was less likely to get punished that way.

"Oi, brat, some stuff happened at one of the other homes, so you got a roommate now. Behave, you hear?"

"Hai, oba-san," he said quietly, knowing better than to disrespect this woman, since she was the one in charge of his food.

"Anyways, this is Tenten, and she will be staying with you for the time being, got it? If I hear about you doing anything bad, you'll not eat for a week."

"Hai, oba-san," he said again, as the woman allowed a girl to enter the room. She was about the same size that he was, and had her hair done up in two buns. She had a Chinese style shirt on, and dark green pants.

"Hi, my name is Tenten. Who are you?"

"I'm Naruto."

As Tenten walked into the room, the old woman stepped out, shutting the door. Since Tenten was wide awake after having to walk in the storm, they sat up for a while talking about each other. Turns out that Tenten was a year older than Naruto, and both of them didn't really have any friends. Naruto didn't have any cause all the adults kept the other kids away from him, and Tenten didn't have any since all the kids were afraid she would beat them up. Tenten was quite the young tomboy, after all.

Eventually, Tenten fell asleep, lying across the mattress. He tucked the worthless blanket around her, and curled up on the floor next to the bed.

Xxxxxxxxxx

A couple hours later, he was awoken by a particularly loud bit of thunder, and just as he was about to fall back asleep, he heard a chattering sound. At first, he thought the noise was coming from outside, but as he lay there on the floor, he realized that the sound was coming from Tenten, who was shivering violently under the worthless blanket.

Prodding her awake, he asked, "You okay?"

Once she focused on him, she chattered out, "C-c-c-c-col-l-l-ld."

He reached his hand out to touch her arm, and once he made contact, his hand recoiled almost instantly. She was as cold as an ice cube! While he was in shock over how cold she was, she realized that he was warm.

"W-w-w-w-warm," she shivered out.

"Huh?"

"W-w-w-w-w-warm, you w-w-w-w-warm."

"Huh? I'm warm? Yeah, I know that. I'm trying to figure out how to make you warm too," he said.

Eventually, Tenten got tired of listening to him think, and did what she thought was the most logical thing to do. She grabbed Naruto, and stuck him on the side of the mattress closest to the window.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"I'm-m-m c-c-c-cold. You-u-u-u-u're warm. Sh-sh-shut up and lie down," she told him, using as forceful a tone of voice as a shivering six year old girl can.

Confused, Naruto just agreed with her, and lay down next to her. She then flopped back down, and scooted as close to him as she could get, pressing her back into his chest. Naruto then started to panic, since he didn't really understand what was going on, and was about to scoot off the bed when she grabbed him.

"Stop moving. You're gonna stay here and keep me warm. Wherever you scoot off to, I'm just gonna follow you, but I wanna stay on the bed. It's more comfortable here. Any questions? I didn't think so," she said, scooting back up against his chest without allowing him to answer. Naruto just lay there, not moving, until her bare foot came into contact with his leg, which made him scream from the shock.

Once he got over the shock, he went back to not moving, since he really didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. Wanting to get more comfortable, and since Naruto didn't have a pillow in his room, she grabbed one of his arms, and extended it under her head, giving her something to sleep on. Naruto tensed at the action, but eventually relaxed. Eventually, they both drifted off to sleep, all thoughts of the storm forgotten.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When Naruto woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was a lot warmer than he normally was when he woke up. Next, he realized that he was very comfortable, followed by realizing that there was something on his right arm, preventing him from moving it, and that his left arm was wrapped around something.

When he opened his eyes, all he could see was brown, and after a minute or so of processing all the incoming information, as well as recalling the night's events, he realized that the brown was the back of Tenten's head, and that she was using his arm as a pillow. His left arm was thrown over her left side, with his hand resting near her stomach.

But, before he could really begin to enjoy being like that, the old lady who ran the orphanage started banging on the door to wake them up, thus ruining the moment. The two kids reluctantly climbed out of the bed, and went about their morning activities.

This process went on for a couple weeks, with Naruto and Tenten sharing a room, and occasionally the bed, at night. During the day, they played together, since nobody else would play with them. They had to be careful, though, and not let the old lady catch them, since no one was supposed to pay with the 'demon child.' Eventually, they realized that if it looked like Tenten was always beating Naruto up, they left the both of them alone.

One day, while Tenten was 'beating Naruto up' the orphanage lady called over to Naruto, breaking his concentration, and thus causing him to not avoid a punch from Tenten, leaving her with a sore hand, and him with a sore face.

"Hai, oba-san?" Naruto called out, rubbing his sore cheek.

"The Hokage is here to see you. Hurry up and get your ass in here! And what have I told you about fighting?"

"Gomen, oba-san," Naruto said as he ran into the orphanages living room.

Tenten just stared after him, deciding to follow him after a moment, since she had nothing better to do.

As soon as Naruto made it into the living room, he launched himself at the old man, catching him around the waist in a bone crunching (for a five year old, anyway) hug.

"Hi Jiji! You here to take me to go get ramen??"

"Sure, Naruto, we can go get some ramen, but only a couple bowls. I have a lot of paperwork to do, remember?" Sarutobi replied, laughing.

Before Naruto could answer though, Tenten came running into the room, "Naruto, where'd you go? I'm not done beating you up yet!"

"Oi Tenten! Jiji's gonna take me out for ramen!"

"Naruto, was she really beating you up?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto just motioned the old man to bend over, and leaned in close to his ear, whispering, "No, Jiji, but as long as Tenten pretends to beat me up all day, everybody leaves us alone. Nobody else plays with us and its kinda fun too. We just pretend we're ninja's!"

Sarutobi jumped back from the assault on his eardrums, since Naruto had yelled out the last bit, and asked, "Well, Tenten, would you like to get some ramen with us?"

"Really? She can come too? You're awesome Jiji!"

"Um, I don't know. I never had ramen before. What's it taste like?" she asked.

"It's only the awesomeist food EVER!!!!"

"Umm, okay, I'll try it."

After Sarutobi informed the orphanage workers that he was taking the two of them out for a while, they departed for Naruto's second favorite place.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Along the way, Naruto never stopped talking. He asked Sarutobi all sorts of questions, ranging from his shoe size (Sarutobi wore elevens) to when he could go to the ninja academy (next year) to when he could wear his hat (when he made Hokage).

Having had that line of questioning shot down, he next launched into what had happened to him since the old man had last visited, which was the day before Tenten came to his orphanage. Sarutobi frowned when Naruto described his room, and decided that it was time Naruto get out of there. He was not frowning for long, though, as a smile was quickly brought out as he listened to the hyperactive blond describe some 'adventure' he went on.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was still talking when they got to Ichiraku's, although he was allowing Tenten into the conversation more often. It was fine with her, since she didn't really know who the guy was, besides the fact that Naruto liked him. She knew he was the Hokage, she just didn't know what a Hokage was.

As soon as they entered into the ramen stand, Naruto immediately switched over to talking to the old man there, not even pausing to take a breath. It amazed the girl how easy he brought the old man behind the counter into his conversation, (about what, Tenten wasn't sure) and just blew her away when the old man just followed Naruto as he talked, a skill that Tenten still lacked. Sure, she could keep up fine when it was just the two of them, but in their present company? Naruto made life-long auctioneers look like mimes, he could talk so fast.

"So, Ten-chan, what kind of ramen do you want?" Naruto asked as he clambered onto a stool.

"Eh?" Tenten had been so into admiring how fast he could talk that she missed his question.

"I said, what kinda ramen do you want?"

"Ano, what kinds are there?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but Sarutobi cut him off, "Just take a miso. If you let Naruto get going on all the kinds of ramen there are, you'll be my age before he finishes."

Naruto glared at the old man for cutting off his rant, "I want two large miso."

"Oh? Didn't you just eat lunch, Naruto?"

"Yeah, but they never gimme enough, so I'm still hungry," the boy replied.

This just re-affirmed his decision to get Naruto out of the orphanage. "I'll take the usual, Teuchi-san."

"Hai, Hokage-sama, and for you?" the man asked, looking at Tenten.

"Ano, a small miso, please."

Their orders were brought out in short order, and Naruto immediately started inhaling his, until he remembered that Tenten was trying it for the first time. He saw her take a bite, and asked, "Well, isn't it the best food ever?"

"It's pretty good, but I think I like dango better."

Naruto just grumbled and went back to inhaling his ramen.

Once they finished, Sarutobi took them back to the orphanage, since he had to go finish his neglected paperwork.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next time Naruto saw the old man was about a week later, and much to the old man's surprise, Naruto didn't come shooting out to greet him as soon as he showed up. Sarutobi had to actually go to his room to get him, and what he saw made him both angry and sad. Angry for the state of his room, and sad because Naruto was curled up in the corner, all miserable looking.

The old man just quietly walked in, closed the door, and crouched down next to him. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at the old man, and Sarutobi could tell he was just managing to hold his tears in. "Ten-chan had to go back to the other orphanage today. Now I got nobody to play with," Naruto told him quietly, his voice wavering.

Sarutobi gave off a quiet smile, "Well, Naruto, I can't help with that, but I do have a present for you."

"Really?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah. Come on, I'll go show it to you."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Sarutobi led Naruto across the village, taking him to the other side of the poor area of the village from where the orphanage was. He led Naruto into a slightly beat-up looking apartment building, stopping in front of a door on the top floor.

"Who lives here, Jiji?" Naruto asked him.

"You do, Naruto," the Hokage replied, handing him a set of keys. "This is your new home. It's not much, but I think you'll like it here better than at the orphanage."

Naruto just held the keys in shock, the situation not really sinking in. eventually the emotions of the day overwhelmed him, and tears started to silently work their way down his face, until he launched himself at the old man, catching him in a death grip hug, almost knocking them both over.

When he finally managed to get some control over his emotions, he thanked the old man several times, and went inside. There were only two rooms, those being a small bathroom, and a larger room that was a combination of kitchen, living room, and bedroom, but to Naruto it was huge. He actually had a real bed, a closet, and even his own couch!

He was so overwhelmed, he lost the little control he had gained over his emotions, and curled up against the Hokage, and happily cried himself to sleep.

**AN: Well, here ya go. first chapter of my first naruten. before you all feak out, im not abandoning fox sage. i will continue to work on both until their done, however long it may take. updates may come faster for this one, though, since i actually have most of the plot figured out already, unlike fox sage, which i basically make up as i go. when i get to the point where i weave Naruto's Rant into this story, (since it IS a part of this story) i may remove it at that point in time. it just depends on how many changes i have to make to it to get it to flow with the rest of this story. also, A Storm in the Night is my working title. i may change it in the future, just so you know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Storm Ch 2**

It's been two years since Naruto got his apartment, and one year since he started attending the Ninja Academy. This day finds him in a rare bad mood, well, a _visible_ bad mood. Naruto is actually in what could be considered a bad mood most of the time, especially on this day, October the tenth. Still, he usually manages to hide it behind a face-splitting grin, and a care-free personality.

This particular day, though, on top of it being October tenth, he was shot down by Sakura, (again) failed his genjutsu test, and tripped and fell into a giant mud puddle. Couple that with years of verbal abuse, neglect, wide-spread hatred, and living alone at the age of seven, and you can see why Naruto is letting his bad mood show.

To top it all off, that night was the festival for celebrating the defeat of the Kyuubi, a night he greatly feared. He didn't fear it because of the Kyuubi. No, he feared it because the villagers were especially nasty towards him for some reason. Last year, some drunk people even chased him with broken beer bottles.

He was so lost in self pity that he forgot to activate his extra security measures when he got to his apartment. He didn't even lock the door. He just kicked it closed before walking over to his bed and collapsing on it, not even bothering to remove his sandals.

_Naruto's Dream_

_Seven year old Naruto sat on the swing outside the academy, watching as all the other kids were picked up by their parents. He watched as the parents hugged their children and asked about their children's day. He watched as the children hugged their parents back, and walked off holding hands, while telling them about what happened that day. _

_He sat there alone, wishing someone would come for _him_. Wishing that someone would be waiting for him when he finished school, someone who he could hug and get hugs from, someone he could tell about his day. Hell, he'd be happy to have someone _ground him_, since it would mean that there was some who cared enough about him to care that he did something wrong._

_The few friends he had, if you could call them that, all thought that not having parents was awesome, since he got to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. All they did was complain that their parents were too strict, gave them too many chores, not enough free time, and made them do their homework. Naruto just pretended that not having parents _was_ awesome, and laughed with them as they grumbled about their parents, all the while wishing that he could have some of his own._

_He didn't really blame them, though. They had no idea what it was like to be him, what it was like to be hated by almost everyone around him. They thought he got bad grades because he was stupid and lazy and because he skipped class a lot. Of course what they didn't know was that his tests were covered with genjutsu which changed the questions, genjutsu's which were removed before his tests were graded, therefore always making his answers wrong. He couldn't file a complaint, because those had to have a parents' signature, and he didn't have any parents. Even if he could file a complaint, he doubted that they would read it. They would just laugh at him, asking him to prove it, while telling his taijutsu teacher to rough him up a little._

_The only teacher who cared at all was Iruka, and even then he couldn't do much. That would be showing favoritism, and could get him in a lot of trouble. All of his other teachers hated him. The taijutsu teacher beat him up, the ninjutsu teacher either used him as a target or ignored him, and on the rare occasion that he actually did show him something, he showed Naruto how to do it wrong. The genjutsu teacher didn't even let him in his class anymore, and the weapons teacher purposely gave him the dullest set of kunai and shuriken in the village, which made it damn near impossible to get them to stick in a target. Hell, he'd probably have a better chance of making a bulls-eye if he threw a cup of instant ramen at it. _

_Because of this, and the fact that he didn't have any family styles to rely on, his ninjutsu sucked, his taijutsu was worse than a drunk three-year-old, and his genjutsu was non-existent. He was actually good at thrown weapons, but since they didn't stick to the targets, his scores didn't count. Iruka's he did okay in, but that was mainly because Iruka taught history, and wasn't actively sabotaging Naruto's efforts to learn. The only skill he was good at was henge, and that's because Iruka taught him that when he was filling in for the normal teacher, who was out sick._

_He could pull of a short distance kawarimi, although it was difficult, and couldn't make a decent bunshin to save his life. His chakra control was almost non-existent, while his reserve were huge, which only compounded his control problem. He couldn't read or write very well, and had problems counting past fifty. _

_He wore ugly orange jumpsuits because that was the only thing the village clothes shops would let him buy, since they figured it would be easier to find him if he wore bright neon orange. Even then, they charged him triple for the horrid things. His rent was obscenely high too. This left him with almost no money for food, so he ate a lot of instant ramen, not just because he liked it, but because it was cheap._

Naruto was suddenly roused from his dream by someone banging on his door. He quickly sat up, grabbing the one sharp kunai he had, which was a present from Jii-chan on his last birthday. It came in a set, but the rest of them were stolen a short time later. He was unable to keep thinking about much of anything, since his door picked that moment to give in to the pounding, and collapse to the floor.

Naruto looked over at the door way, his eyes wide as he saw who had just hammered his door down. It wasn't just a couple drunk villagers, but a whole bunch of them. They swarmed into hi small apartment, quickly cutting off all of Naruto's escape routes.

"Why are you here?" he finally managed to scream out, "What did I ever do to you?"

"The demon thinks he's innocent!" one of the villagers screamed out, "Can you believe it?"

"You killed our families, you little shit," another called out, "So now were gonna kill you!"

"Wait! I'm only seven! I didn't kill anybody, I swear!" Naruto called out, trying to convince them that he was innocent.

"Yeah, like we're gonna believe a demon like you, good luck with that," a third villager called out, "Enough talk, lets get him, I wanna go back to the festival."

The mob of villagers swarmed the boy, beating him with whatever they could get their hands on. One even picked up a part of the broken door and stabbed him in the thigh with it, making Naruto scream out in pain.

They beat him for another half hour, until a villager got bored kicking him in the face, and decided to try something else. He picked up Naruto's discarded kunai, and walked over to the boy, who was miraculously still conscious. "You killed my parents, my wife, and my son you bastard. You made me have to carve their names into the memorial, so now I'm gonna carve them into YOU!" the man screamed, before beginning to carve the names of his family onto Naruto's flesh. He was forced to stop briefly from Naruto struggling, but quickly solved that by tying him to the wall, arms and legs spread wide, so he couldn't struggle anymore. He then continued to carve the names of his family onto Naruto's chest.

When he ran out of family, he gave the kunai to the next villager in line, who began to carve the names of their deceased family into his flesh. After a while, when his front side was lacking in available space to carve, they turned him around, and continued the process on his back. They were careful about how they did it too. As soon as they felt like Naruto was gonna pass out from the pain, they would stop for a while, letting him get used to the pain.

When he finally did pass out, after a few hours and over seven hundred names, a couple chunin showed up to see what was going on.

"What's going on here?" one of them asked.

"Were punishing the demon," a villager replied.

"Oh, ok, just try to keep the noise down, the neighbors are complaining about all the screaming."

"It's fine, we're just about done with him anyway. We just gotta find a place to finish him off."

"Don't bother. We'll do it. That bastard killed my sister, and I've wanted payback for a while now. I'll hit him with an academy fire jutsu; make it look like he burned this place down by practicing indoors."

"Yeah, kids these days, always screwing around," the other chunin replied.

They then ferried all the villagers out of the building, and then returned to the destroyed apartment. The first chunin was about to start the fire jutsu, but was stopped before he could finish it by the other chunin.

"What?"

"Is there anyone else in this building? I got no problem killing demons, but I don't want to be responsible for burning a bunch of civilians to death."

"Uhhh, I don't think so, but we should probably check. We're on the top floor, so the whole building shouldn't burn down, so long as we watch it. We'll just say we found the apartment on fire, and quickly put it out, but were unable to save the 'poor child' who lived there."

They then scanned the surrounding apartments, finding them all empty. Seems that nobody wanted to live next to the demon.

'_Oh well, just makes our job easier,' _thought one of the chunins as they returned to the demon's apartment. "We'll both do it. Rumor has it that the demon has a lot of chakra, and almost no control over it, so it'll be more realistic that way."

"Okay," the other replied, as they both launched the unnamed fire jutsu at the demon's unconscious body, shooting an eight foot flame at him. Normally, the technique only puts out a two foot stream of flames, and it's used for lighting campfires and torches and such. But, when a couple of angry chunin are behind it, and have chakra to spare, well, you can imagine the results. Especially when they use it _inside_ a _wooden_ apartment.

Satisfied that the demon was taken care of, they waited on a nearby roof for an appropriate amount of time to pass before dousing the flames, and playing the heros.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When Naruto passed out from the pain, he found himself in a sewer, or at least, what he thought was a sewer. It was dark, and there was ankle-deep water on the floor. The next thing he realized was that he didn't hurt, and upon a closer inspection, realized that he had no injuries at all.

'_Huh. I must be dead. Funny though, I thought heaven was supposed to be bright and sunny. The villagers must've got their wish and sent me to hell,'_ Naruto thought as he began to explore the sewer. As he walked, he noticed pipes running across the ceiling, big ones and small ones. The big ones faintly glowed red, and the little ones faintly glowed blue, and for some reason, their combined glow made a faint green light, which was how Naruto was able to see where he was going.

The thing that unnerved him the most though, was the fact that he seemed to know where he was going, although he also knew that he had never been there before in his life. He was sure he would remember it if he had, and he couldn't remember ever being in a place like this.

Continuing on, he noticed the air getting warmer, as well as there being more of the big pipes on the ceiling, and less of the little ones. Eventually, it got to the point where there weren't any little pipes on the ceiling, and as he turned the next corner, he came face to face with a giant cage.

The cage went up towards where the ceiling should be; it was so high he couldn't actually see it. The bars were as thick as his arm, and spaced far enough apart for him to easily slide through, which told him that whatever was behind them was really big, and probably really strong. He was surprised, then, to find that the only thing holding the cage shut was a small piece of paper, with 'seal' written on it.

Once the novelty of the giant cage started to wear off, he began to notice a sound. It had a rather odd rhythm to it, until he realized that the sound was from something breathing, and based on that breathing, whatever it was, was waking up.

Pretty soon, he could vaguely make out something moving in the darkness on the other side of the bars, and he could tell it was really, _really,_ big. Big as in, bigger that his apartment; heck the thing was probably bigger that his apartment _building._ He just watched in awe as the thing began to move towards him, but staying far enough back that he couldn't tell what it was.

Eventually, Naruto got sick of waiting, and called out to it, "Hello?"

The only response he got was a pair of gianormous eyes opening, each with a vertically slit pupil, and colored red.

Yep, that confirmed it. Whatever the thing was, it was freakin huge.

"**Who are you?"**

The question caught Naruto completely off guard. "Uhh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

There was a brief pause, and then, **"How old are you?"**

This time, he noticed the huge mouth the thing had, as well as the fact that it was full of very white, very shiny, and very _sharp_ looking teeth.

"Uhh, I'm seven."

The thing turned slightly away from Naruto, and after a few minutes, Naruto decided to ask it some questions.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"**Me? You should know that already. You humans call me Kyuubi."**

Naruto's response came as a slight shock to Kyuubi, as he just flopped down onto the watery floor and began to think, which was a pretty far cry from the usual responses. Usually people screamed in fear, tried to attack, or just keeled over dead.

"**You don't seem very surprised. Normally when humans hear my name they try to attack me."**

"Why should I be? We're both dead already."

"**Huh?"**

"Well, if you're the Kyuubi, and I can see you, we both must be dead. Cuz, like, the Yondaime Hokage killed you, making you dead, and for me to see dead people means that I gotta be dead too."

Kyuubi just stared at Naruto. It was a surprisingly well thought out argument from a seven year old human, based on the edited bit of knowledge he had.

"**You're not dead, or at least not yet. I'm not dead either. I don't know why you think it, but this 'Yondaime Hokage' didn't kill me, he sealed me inside you. I'm the lord of demons; no pathetic human can kill me."**

Naruto just sat there in shock, not really able to process what he was just told. As the silence stretched on, Kyuubi was beginning to think that Naruto's mind had cracked, when he suddenly spoke.

"So you're why everyone hates me?"

"**Everyone hates you?"**

"Yeah. All the villagers glare at me, and call me names like 'demon' and 'monster.' None of the shops sell me stuff, and none of the other kids play with me. Whenever I try to play with them, their parents yell at me and take them away."

That made Kyuubi angry. No demon disrespects children. In the course of its life, even Kyuubi avoided killing children whenever possible.

"**What about your parents?"**

"I don't have any. I lived at the orphanage until Jii-chan got me this apartment."

Something about that sentence just didn't sound right to Kyuubi. **"Lived?"**

"Yeah. Jii-chan got sick of the people there abusing me and stuff. They said that a demon should be able to live on its own and that they shouldnt have to take care of me."

They went silent for a few minutes, Kyuubi thinking over how wrong Naruto's life was, and Naruto trying to figure out where they were.

"So, where are we?"

"**Hmm? Oh, this is your mindscape."**

"What?"

"**We're inside your mind."**

"Oh how-" Naruto was cut off when it suddenly got really hot in his mind.

"What's going on?"

Kyuubi just focused on Naruto's senses, and came to a startling conclusion.

"**Your body is on fire."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Storm Ch 3**

"**Your body is on fire."**

"It is?" Naruto said, as he looked at himself, "I don't look like I'm on fire."

"**Not here, your real body is on fire, along with whatever building you were in."**

"WHAT?"

"**Yeah, you're on fire, and unless you want to burn to death, I suggest you hurry and get back out there and get out of the fire."**

That had a sobering effect on Naruto, which surprised the fox, "I can't."

"**What do you mean, you can't?"**

"Well, you can see outside, look for your self!" Naruto shouted, unable to actually say what had been done to him.

What the fox found almost made it retch. It couldn't believe what had happened to him, or the fact that he wasn't dead yet.

"**Who…"**

"Did that? A bunch of villagers broke in and did that," he said quietly, "Every year they chase me on this day, and I usually spend it locked in my apartment. But today a lot of stuff happened, and was so out of it that I forgot about them."

"**But why this day?"**

"Cause it's the festival celebrating when the Yondaime Hokage defeated you. All the villagers have a huge party, and even the ninjas go." He went silent for a moment, "and it's my birthday."

Kyuubi's heart went out to the child. Having to spend ones birthday locked inside their apartment alone while in fear of their life was not the way a child should be raised. Not even the vilest of demons did that to their children. It just wasn't right.

"**I can help you, if you'll let me."**

"How?"

"**If you channel chakra into that seal, it will allow me to gain some control over your body, and I will be able to move it out of the fire."**

"But I can't reach it," Naruto said. As soon as he finished, though, it slid right down to the bottom, stopping about even with his chest. "And I can't really do much with my chakra yet."

"**That doesn't matter. You know how to move chakra in your body right?"**

Naruto nodded.

"**Well, that seal is technically a part of your body. Just focus it there. You don't need much, just enough to tell the seal that you know what's going on."**

"Naruto didn't really get why he needed to put the chakra into the seal, he just knew that it was his only real hope of getting out of his burning apartment alive. So he placed both of his hands on the seal, and began pushing chakra into it. It wasn't very much, since he really didn't know what he was doing, but it was enough to let Kyuubi move his body.

When Kyuubi's chakra connected with Naruto's motor functions, the shock almost kicked his chakra out. The pain coming from his body was beyond intense.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Back in the burning apartment, Naruto's body, or what was left of it, started to stir. First, the whisker marks on his face darkened. His finger and toe nails lengthened, along with his canine teeth. His eyelids opened, revealing red eyes with slitted pupils.

Suddenly, a cocoon of red chakra enveloped his body, protecting it from the flames. The Kyuubi-driven body of Naruto then proceeded to crawl its way over to his window, which had broken from the intense heat, and managed to pitch himself out of the window, falling four stories to the alley below. He landed in a heap, and did not move, the crimson cocoon fading shortly thereafter.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Sarutobi was relaxing in his office, paperwork finally completed for the day. He had just pulled out a certain orange book when he felt a chakra pulse. Now, this was by no means a reason for him to freak out, since he felt chakra pulses all day, as did everyone else who could sense chakra while living in a ninja village.

No, the reason _this particular_ chakra pulse made him drop his book on his desk and fling his aged body out the window was who the chakra belonged to. Or rather, _what_ it belonged to. He hadn't felt that particular chakra signature in seven years, and while this pulse was very small, its very presence filled him with worry.

Was the seal broken? Was Naruto alright? Could the fox escape? These were only some of the thoughts flying around his head as he raced towards Naruto's apartment, becoming more alarmed by the second as he saw smoke coming from that direction.

His ANBU bodyguard squad fell into place around him shortly thereafter, and he began to bark out orders, "Inu, Nezumi, Risu, go ahead and find out what's wrong! Tora, go alert the hospital, I have a feeling Naruto's gonna need a bed there. I don't care how you do it; get a competent team ready for him! If they still won't, send them to Ibiki, no restrictions!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" they all shouted out, before splitting off in their separate directions.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Of the three ANBU going to the fire, Inu was in the lead, flanked by Nezumi (mouse) on the left, and Risu (squirrel) on the right. "Risu," Inu barked out, "Take care of the fire. Nezumi, look for anyone around here who seems to be taking too much interest in the fire, make note of them, and send the list to the Hokage. I'll look for the kid."

"Hai, sempai!" they both returned, before leaping off to take care of their assigned tasks.

Inu didn't even make all the way around the building before he found a body in the alley behind the building. He noticed the broken window belching flames from the top floor. _'He jumped out of a four story window? In that condition?' _he quickly moved him to check for a pulse. _'And he's still alive?'_ He scooped up the battered body, and right before he leapt off, Sarutobi arrived.

"How is he?"

"He's alive at the moment. Can't really tell much else though," the doubly-masked nin replied.

"Go. Tora should have the hospital set by now. When you get there, I want the both of you to watch over him. Once he's stable, only let people you trust near him. Should there be any… problems, do whatever you have to, to keep him safe. I'm failing Minato's last wishes bad enough as it is; I will not let the villagers kill him."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Inu said, before vanishing off towards the hospital, going as fast as he could while trying not to further aggravate Naruto's injuries.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When Inu arrived at the hospital, there was a team of mednins waiting _outside_ the building for him. He quickly handed the boy over to them, before following them into the emergency section, Tora right behind him. As they passed through the lobby, Inu was mildly surprised to only see three doctors in heaps against the wall. Inu looked at Tora, raising an eyebrow behind his mask.

"They said no," replied Tora.

"Ahh."

As they reached the emergency section, a nurse tried to halt their progress, but a glare from the two masked nins silenced her even before she began to speak. Once inside the room, they quietly stood in a corner, watching over the mednins as they worked on the boy.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later, Sarutobi finally made it to the hospital, and found Tora standing outside Naruto's door. When he went in, he found Inu sitting next to Naruto's bed. He still had his mask on, but the left eye-hole was closed, and his hood was down, revealing his gravity-defying silver-white hair.

"How is he?"

Inu just pulled back the sheet. From waist to neck, Naruto was wrapped in bandages. His left arm and both legs were in casts, since he broke them when he fell out of his window. His hair was gone, as were his eyebrows. The upper half of his right arm was bandaged as well.

"Well?"

"It's not just burns, Hokage-sama. The villagers cut him up. They cut him up bad." He produced a scroll from one of his pockets, handing it over. "The villagers carved names of the Kyuubi attack victims into his skin. That scroll has the ones they could read on it, but they overlapped so much it's probably nowhere close to all of them. They could only read about thirty or so, but based on the amount of area that they couldn't make out, it's probably closer to a couple hundred names."

Sarutobi just collapsed into a chair, "What about the burns?"

"Thankfully not as bad as they looked. Most were concentrated on his back and left arm. Mainly second-degree, although there was some third. Left arm and both legs are broken, most likely from falling out of his window."

"And the seal?"

"Still good as far as I can tell. I got a quick look at it before they wrapped him up and it didn't look any different, and I can only sense a tiny amount of other chakra in his system right now, although I can't tell what it's from. It doesn't seem to be doing any damage, though, so it's probably leftovers from the medics."

"They say when he might wake up?"

"Well, they got him on some pretty strong stuff right now. I'd tell you what it is, but I don't feel like trying to pronounce it. The name of the stuff is like fifteen syllables long. Once he's off that stuff, it could be anywhere from a day to never, they just don't know."

"Thanks for watching over him. I'll make sure your team gets a B-rank for this. Nezumi and Risu will take over for you in a few hours. Oh, before I forget, how many?"

"You'd have to ask him, but when I got here, there were only three on the floor unconscious. The mednins were even waiting outside for us."

"I'll make sure to do so. Please, if anything changes, let me know."

"Ah. Pakkun knows that I may call on him at any moment."

As the aging Hokage left, Inu couldn't help but hang his head at how bad his village had failed his teacher. _'Gomen, sensei. It would seem that the village is too stupid to see him for what he really is.'_

Xxxxxxxxxx

Back in Naruto's mind, he was having a rather interesting conversation with the fox. Meaning, he was walking it through his memories, which was NOT fun. The fun and interesting part came from the fox's comments on everything. That managed to take the edge off the bad memories, especially when the fox called the orphanage lady "Oban." (Bitchy old hag) When they finished, the fox was beyond shocked that the boy in front of her had gone through what he had, and come out the way he did.

"So when do I get to wake up?" Naruto asked the fox.

"**Not for a while. Your body is pretty messed up right now. You're better off staying here for a while."**

"How bad is it?"

"**Well, you're wrapped in bandages from neck to waist, along with half of your right arm, and the rest of your limbs are in casts from falling out of your window. I'm sending my chakra out to help fix what I can, but I really don't know much about human bodies, so it's going pretty slow. Besides, they got you stuck on some pretty powerful sedatives and painkillers right now, so you probably couldn't wake up, even if you wanted to."**

"Oh." Naruto got another defeated look, as he sighed heavily. Kyuubi had come to hate that look. It just seemed so….wrong for a child to wear a look like that, especially one that was as energetic as he was. It affected the fox on some inner, primal level, to do whatever it could to fix the problem. The main issue with that being that the fox knew almost nothing about human emotions, and knew even less about how to influence them.

So, the fox thought about it from a different perspective, that being what it would do if Naruto was another demon in the same situation. Suddenly the fox had the urge to hold him, which completely confused it. Kyuubi was the lord of all demons, after all. It wasn't supposed to have feelings for humans besides what the best way to kill them was.

Still, though, that urge just wouldn't go away. Deciding that it was some sort of long-dormant parental instinct, since it had been a few hundred years since Kyuubi had children, the fox decided that it could handle these strange feeling. It then realized that its current form wasn't exactly the best suited for the task at hand, so the fox decided to shift.

"**Naruto?" **the fox called out, getting the child's attention.

"What?"

"**Come here, I want to show you something."**

Naruto stood up and walked up to the cage. "You're not gonna eat me or anything, are you?"

"**Why would I do that? Humans taste really bad."**

"Oh. Cuz the stories all say that demons like to eat people."

"**No, I'm not gonna eat you. Or do anything like that, either"**

"Oh, ok, that's good. What are you gonna show me?"

"**This,"** the fox replied, before starting to glow a dull red. The glow gave Naruto the chance to see the giant fox fully for the first time, even the nine tails waving around behind it. Suddenly though, the fox began to shrink, until it wasn't that much bigger than he was. As it did, the glow got brighter, until Naruto had to look away.

When he looked back, he almost didn't believe what he was seeing. The person on the other side of the bars was about five and a half feet tall, with crimson hair that went down to the person's shoulder blades, with two white tipped ears sticking out the top. There were nine white tipped crimson tails behind them, and they were wearing a silver kimono. The persons face had a slightly feral look to it, which wasn't helped by the slightly longer than normal canine teeth poking out the sides of their mouth.

None of that is what Naruto noticed, though. Him being him, he shouted out the first thing he DID notice.

"YOU'RE A GIRL?"

"**What, is that a problem?"**

"Err, no, not really. I just thought that you were a boy."

"**Why would you think that?"**

"Well, you kinda sound like one when you're a fox, and all the stories say that you're a boy."

"**Well I assure you, I am most definitely a woman."**

"So, why'd you show me this?"

"**I don't really know. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Ever since you showed up here and woke me up, I've been getting these strange feelings, and they only got worse after I saw your memories."**

She could tell that reliving all of his memories was taking its toll on him, regardless of how well he tried to hide it.

"**I'm having these urges, to do things that I would otherwise never ever think about doing."**

"Oh? Like what?"

"**Come here and I'll show you."**

Naruto slowly walked over to the fox woman, slipping easily through the bars of her prison. When he got close enough to her, she slowly put her arms around him. When he started to speak, she just shushed him.

"**You do a remarkable job hiding your true feelings from the world, but you need to let them out. Having just seen your memories, I can tell that you have bottled up far more than is healthy. You need to let it out."**

So that's what he did. He let himself be held by the lord of all demons, and let it out. She held him for hours, letting him ramble and cry and shout, helping let out all of his pent up emotions. For she knew, the only way to properly heal was to have a clean wound, and if he kept all of that bottled up, it would never be clean.

**AN: please tell me you know who Inu is. if you dont, based on the hints i have given, i will find you, drag you out of your house, and kick you in the head, before having kakashi use kamui on you. (thats his special mangekyo technique, for those who dont know. it sends stuff to other dimensions.)  
**

**AN 2: wow. chapters 2, 3, and 4, (which im writing right now) were all supposed to be the same chapter. i never thought it would grow out to be this freaking long. also, in case anyone thinks the fox is too OOC, (and she is, big time) keep this in mind: my kyuubi has been asleep the whole time she has been sealed in naruto. she hasnt seen all of his memories either, just the ones he could remember. she does not know who his parents are either.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Storm Ch 4**

The doctors of Konoha kept Naruto sedated for a full week, and he remained unconscious for a further week due to influence from the fox. During this time, the fox was slowly healing his injuries, (or at least trying to) as well as helping him get over all of his bottled up emotions, including those in regards to housing her.

She did not really enjoy that part of Naruto's impromptu 'therapy.' He ranted and screamed at her, (most of the time making no sense at all) for a whole day, before he collapsed into her arms, sobbing.

In his hospital room, Inu and his squad kept a constant vigil over him, both to announce when he woke up, and to protect him from any further harm. For Naruto's benefit, no attempts were made. Teuchi and Ayame dropped in to visit him, as did Tenten a few times after class got out at the academy.

Naruto's teacher, Iruka, also stopped by the first day, but only stayed long enough to get enough information to satisfy his classmates, although none of them asked about the boy.

The Hokage stopped by every day on his way home, to check on Naruto, as well as get the report from the ANBU there. Every day, he left both happier and sadder. Happier that there were no attacks, and sadder because Naruto was still unconscious. He was also slightly worried about the constant, albeit small, amount of Kyuubi's chakra that was in his system. It did not seem to be doing anything to harm him, so the doctors hypothesized that it was some sort of innate power of the bijuu protecting the host.

It was just about to turn into the third week when Naruto finally started to wake up. The doctor had just finished a basic check-up on the boy, and was in the process of writing a note to have him moved to the coma ward, when his assistant suddenly stopped him from writing.

"Wait, I think it's too soon to send him to the coma ward."

"Why? He's been out of it for two solid weeks, one without any influence from our medication."

"Because I just saw him move."

"Alert the ANBU outside. I'm sure Hokage-sama will want to know the instant Naruto wakes up."

The assistant told the ANBU that Naruto seemed to be waking up, (they had dropped it to one guard outside the room) and the guard swiftly sent out two clones. One headed for the Hokage, and the other headed for his team leader, Inu. Before long, both men came into the small recovery room, crowding it even further.

"Is it true?" Sarutobi asked, sitting in the chair next to the bed, "Is he waking up?"

Inu stood in the corner, trying to stay out of everyone's way.

"We think so. He moved a little while ago, and that's more than he has since he got here. I was about to pronounce him comatose."

The Hokage frowned slightly at the doctor, but it quickly vanished to be replaced with a smile when Naruto groaned, and began to open his eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto had been sitting with the fox for two weeks when she finally told him he could wake up. As soon as she had spoken, Naruto had almost flung himself out of his mind, only to crash headlong into the wall of pain that was his still healing body. He tried again, this time going a lot slower, trying to get used to the pain. A lot of the burns were gone, but he still had a broken arm, and two broken legs to deal with.

His first post-incident words, although they were barely audible, would be forever ingrained into the Hokage's memory. The first thing out of Naruto's mouth was, after a groan of pain, "Shoulda locked the door."

Well, that certainly explained how the rioters got in to his apartment, in any case.

Sarutobi just sighed in relief. As far as he was concerned, Naruto was okay. He gave Naruto some water, and once he was convinced that the boy was fully awake, began to ask him about the incident.

"Naruto, can you tell me where you are?"

"The hospital, Jii-chan."

"Do you remember why you are here?"

"I got attacked," Naruto replied, before hanging his head, and staring at his lap.

"Naruto, it wasn't your fault. You did nothing wrong. The villagers…….are misguided in their hate of you."

"It's cause of the fox, isn't it?" Naruto asked quietly, shocking everybody in the room.

"What do you mean?" Sarutobi asked slowly, not wanting to give anything away to the boy.

"They hate because of the fox in me, right?"

"Did they tell you that?"

Naruto just shook his head.

"Then who told you that there is a fox inside you?"

"The fox in me told me. It's why I have this seal, right?" Naruto asked, pointing to his stomach.

"You spoke……..to the fox?" the old man asked, slumping back in his chair.

"Yeah, she's actually really nice."

"You act- wait, you said she?"

"Yeah, the Kyuubi fox is a girl. It surprised me too, cause when she's all big and foxy looking she kinda sounds like a boy, but when she turned into a person she was a girl, even though she had ears on top of her head and tails behind her," Naruto said, waving his arms around for emphasis.

"Naruto, do you know how to do henge yet?" the Hokage asked.

"Uhh, not really," Naruto replied.

The Hokage then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and some paper, before scribbling something down on it, and handing to Risu. "Go find this man, and have him be here at the earliest time he can."

Risu nodded, and then poofed out of the room. "Where's he going, Jii-chan?" Naruto asked.

"He's going to find a man who works for the civilian police force. The man is a professional sketch artist who draws pictures of criminals based on what the victims see."

"So why do you need him?"

"I want you to tell him about how the fox looked, and he's going to draw a picture of it, err, her, so we can all see what she looks like."

"Ohh, ok."

The rest of the day was spent answering questions that Naruto had from what had happened, which weren't very many, and Sarutobi in turn telling Naruto about the laws he made regarding the fox. Before the old man could leave though, Naruto had a rather odd request.

"Jii-chan, I got another question."

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can I have a a-na-de-my book?"

"Why do you want an anatomy book?"

"Well, Kyuubi-chan says that she can use her cha-ka-ra to heal me faster, but she doesn't know how to do it. She wanted me to look at a anademy book so she would be able to fix me faster."

"She can?"

"That's what she said," Naruto replied.

"And you trust her?"

"Yeah, she's really nice to me. You should meet her some time; I think you'd like her too."

"Naruto, there's no wa- wait, maybe there is. I will see if I can try to find you an anatomy book, but I want to meet her first, okay? We'll do it tomorrow after the artist leaves."

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next day found Naruto inhaling his crappy hospital breakfast as the Hokage and the artist showed up.

Naruto, this is Minoru. He's going to ask you some questions about what you saw, and he's going to draw a picture. He'll show you when he's done, and then you get to tell him what he did wrong, and how to fix it, okay?"

Minoru got comfortable, pulling Naruto's table up to him after his dishes were cleared off, and began his questions.

"Well, Naruto-kun, everyone knows what the fox looks like when it's a fox, so we're gonna make a picture when she's a girl, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, how tall was she? Use us to compare if you have to."

Naruto thought about it for a few seconds, before holding his hand against his stomach, "I came up to about here on her."

The questions went on for a while, and Naruto answered them as best he could. By the time Minoru had asked them all, it was time for lunch. While Naruto and the Hokage ate, he finished up his picture, and showed it to Naruto.

"Does this look like what you saw?" he asked.

Naruto pointed out a couple of small things that needed to be changed, and then told him it was good. It was not what the old man was expecting. The woman on the page almost looked like she came from one of Jiraiya's books.

'_Well, I guess I'll get to find out in a little while,'_ he thought, as he thanked Minoru for his time.

"Well, Naruto, are you ready to introduce me to Kyuubi-chan?"

"Well, yeah, but how are you gonna get inside my head-place where she is?"

"Well, Naruto, there is a room in the tower that can let other people into the mindscapes of others. It has special seals in it," he told Naruto. It was entirely true; he just left out the part where the person being visited was usually an enemy nin that had been captured.

They had a nurse carefully put Naruto in a wheel chair, and the Hokage wheeled him over to the tower, and into the basement, to the secondary mind viewing room. This one was mainly used for looking into the mind of the interrogator, to view the memories of the one being interrogated. The primary room was buried underneath ANBU headquarters, and was not near as nice as this one.

Once Naruto was put in the right spot, he was told to relax, and when he felt like he was going to fall asleep, to just go with it and fall asleep. It didn't take long, and Naruto soon found himself back in his sewery mindscape, along with the Hokage, who was quite shocked at what he saw. He was no expert, but this was the creepiest mind he had ever been in, including Ibiki's.

"Come on, Jii-chan, this way," Naruto said, grabbing the old man's hand and leading him off through the maze of tunnels. It took the old man all of about a minute to get completely lost, although Naruto knew exactly where they were going, and about a minute later they got to the room with the cage.

Naruto just walked right up to it, calling out, "Kyuubi-chan? Jii-chan wants to meet you! Come here!"

He didn't stop there, though. He kept on going, sliding in-between the bars to continue his search, an act that almost gave old Sarutobi a heart attack.

"NARUTO! Where are you going? Get back out here!"

"Chill out Jii-chan, I been back here already. I already asked if Kyuubi-chan was gonna eat me and she said no. She said that we taste yucky. Now come on, help me find her."

Suddenly, a huge red eye opened up while Naruto was looking at the Hokage, and when he turned back, it was the first thing he saw.

"AHHH!" he screamed, falling onto his backside, "Don't do that! You scared me!"

"**I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it."**

Sarutobi just stood outside the bars of the cage in absolute shock as the mighty fox stood up and walked closer to the bars.

"**Who are you?"**

"That's Jii-chan. He wanted to meet you, so here we are!"

The fox then shifted to her human form, since it was more appropriate for the situation.

"I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato."

"**You are this boy's grandfather?"**

"No, he just calls me that. Naruto has no true family at all, so I guess that I've sort of taken over the grandfather position.

"**Who is responsible for this child?"**

"Well, technically nobody is; he is in charge of himself. But, myself and a few others check up on him from time to time to see how he's doing. I hope I'm not being rude, but why do you care?"

"**Just because I am a demon does not mean I am a heartless killing machine. Our societies function much the same way yours do. We find children to be especially precious to us, since there are not that many."**

"I must ask, how do you feel about Naruto? Is it true that you can heal him, and that you actually want to? I don't mean this to sound the way I'm sure it does, but I must know that you aren't trying to use him in some manner that could allow you to weaken the seal and escape to destroy Konoha again."

"**Relax, old man. Even if I could get out of this seal, this boy cares for your village, and I could not bring myself to destroy his home, so long as he cares for it. As to the healing, if you get me a book on human anatomy I will be able to greatly increase the rate of his healing. Keep in mind, though, if Naruto ever decides to hate Konoha, and I find a way out of this seal that won't kill us both, I will return to finish destroying it. No child should be treated the way he has been."**

"I agree completely agree with you there. I wish I could help him more, but I am hamstrung by the council. Were I to do more than I do now, they could accuse me of favoritism towards the 'demon' and undermine my power even further. As horrible as it sounds, the good of the village must come before the good of any one member, even one as special as Naruto."

"**I am going to hold you to your words, old man. Keep Naruto safe and happy and I will do what I can to keep him healthy. Should your village continue to shun him though," **Kyuubi switched back to her fox form, and bellowed out, **"Not even Kami herself will be able to stop me from destroying your village."**

"I can not speak for the villagers, but I will do what I can. I really doubt that anything I do will make much difference at this point."

"**I will hold you to that as well, now good day." **The fox then turned around and stalked farther back into the darkness.

"See Jii-chan, I told ya you'd like her."

"Uhh, yeah, sure, let's go with that. Now then, I think it is time for me to get you a book, but first, how about some ramen?"

**AN: in case anyone didn't get how the whole memory viewing thing works, it's like this. Enemy nin gets captured, and taken to ANBU HQ. Then someone, like Ibiki, goes through their memories looking for useful information if they can't get it out by normal means. Then the interrogator (Ibiki) goes to the room in the Hokage tower and uses their memory room to show the Hokage, council, etc, what he has learned. Make more sense? **


	5. Chapter 5

**Storm Ch 5**

Naruto recovered swiftly once the fox had a reference as to how his body was supposed to be. By the end of the week he was fully healed, and back to attending class at the academy. When his classmates asked where he had been for the last three weeks, he just told them that he fell and broke his arm and both legs, which was true; he just changed the story to falling down some stairs.

Despite the Hokage asking him directly, Naruto never told him that he knew all of the names that were carved into him. He just spent the next four years pranking the hell out of those responsible. The pranks were never dangerous, just inconvenient. For some, he broke into their homes and re-arranged all of their furniture. Others he let wild animals into. Some of them he even changed the locks on.

His crowning jewel, though, was what he did to the two chunin who burned his apartment down. He dragged them into the middle of the village the night before a morning festival, stripped them down to nothing, and tied them to a sign, which was humiliating in and of itself, until one looked at the manner they were tied up in. One of them was bent over in front of the other, and their proximity to each other implied that they were in the middle of fu…err, 'having fun together.'

When the Hokage got the report, he had to immediately excuse himself, and spent the rest of the day laughing his ass off in his office. Inu's ANBU team were all amazed that a student could do that to a pair of chunin, until they began to realize that all of the names on the scroll that Inu had given to the Hokage were among Naruto's prank victims. They were still amazed by Naruto's skills, but it made perfect sense to them as to why he did it.

The thing that surprised them even more was that the only person who could catch him was his academy teacher, Iruka. Well, Inu's team could've done it, as well as the jounin, and a lot of the chunin, but for some reason the Hokage only ever sent new chunin after him.

So, it should be no surprise that Iruka caught Naruto skipping class _again,_ and had given him a detention.

"Naruto, you can't keep skipping class like this. If you want to get your grades up, you need to actually be here to learn the information so you can pass your tests."

"But there's no point, sensei," the now eleven year old Naruto argued, "You're the only teacher who cares about me. The rest of them still try to make me fail. I mean, I don't get genjutsu'd tests anymore, but they still mess with them. They change the words around, and use really big ones that I don't know, and when I ask for help they usually ignore me. Last week Tao-sensei gave me a detention just because I raised my hand. He said that I was 'giving inappropriate gestures' or something like I was flipping him off, and I wasn't this time, I promise."

Iruka just sighed. Tao taught taijutsu, and hated Naruto with a passion. So, one day Naruto just gave him the finger and walked out of class, which landed him in a week-long detention. "Well, I'll go talk to Hokage-sama later, see if we can't get you some better teachers. If I do that will you at least show up for my class?"

"Yeah, I'll show up for your class, Iruka-sensei. Just don't make me sit next to Sasuke-teme."

"Naruto, you should try to be nice to him."

"I do, but he thinks that just because he's a Uchiha that makes him perfect, and he's not."

"You know what, let's go see if we can talk to Hokage-sama right now," Iruka said, not wanting to listen to Naruto rant on about why Sasuke was a teme.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The pair made their way to the tower, and just as Iruka was about to open the door, they both heard shouting from inside the office.

"WHAT? I gotta do WHAT? DAMN THAT COUNCIL! I'M GONNA SHOVE A KUNAI UP THEIR ASSES SIDEWAYS!"

Iruka poked his head in the door, revealing an uncomfortable Sarutobi and a massively pissed off Anko, who was the source of the yelling.

"Uhh, is now a bad time?" Iruka asked.

"Not really, Iruka," the Hokage replied, "Anko's just mad that the council wants her to take a team this year. What do you need?"

"Well, it's about Naruto here," he said, dragging Naruto into the room with him. "The rest of the teachers still keep trying to fail him on purpose. If Naruto stays there, there is almost no way he'll be able to pass."

Sarutobi just sighed. Then, a thought struck him. He flipped through the folders on his desk for the new genin applicants, and realized that there would be one student without a team, and if he remembered correctly, the next year's class had the same problem.

"Anko, would you rather have a two nin team versus a three nin team?"

"Of course. I hate new genins; the less the better."

"Well, only one would be a new genin."

"Sweet. Only one bastard to teach."

"The other is still a student."

Iruka and Anko both looked at the Hokage, "Huh?"

"Naruto is not getting proper instruction from the academy, due to the personal bias of most of his teachers. I want you to take over teaching the practical knowledge he has missed out on, while Iruka will cover the academic portion. This will get you out of having to take a full team, but, because the council wants you to do more than take an apprentice, you will have a two-man team. Or rather, one boy and one girl."

"Goodie, I get a wanna-be kunoichi and the fox brat." Anko said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Her name is Tenten." He was cut off from explaining further by an outburst from Naruto.

"I get to be on a team with Ten-chan? Awesome!"

Anko looked at Naruto, "You know her, brat?"

"Yeah, she's my friend."

They stayed there for a little while longer to work out the details, and then Iruka and Naruto left to get ramen.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The first day of Naruto's break found him trudging out to the training grounds, trying to find his new sensei. He hadn't realized it, but they had never set a meeting point. So, he wandered the training fields looking for them, and eventually found them at training ground forty four. Grumbling to himself, he walked up to them.

"Bout time you showed up, brat."

Tenten spun around, having not been told who her other teammate was. "Naruto?"

"Hi Ten-chan! And I woulda been here a long time ago if you woulda told me where to go yesterday."

"I did too tell you, brat."

"Yeah, 'be at the training grounds first thing in the morning' is hardly a place to be. You do know that we have like a hundred training fields, right? How was I supposed to know which one you'd be at?"

"Details, details. Anyway, this is where we will meet from now on." She was prevented from continuing by Tenten.

"Uhh, sensei, what is he doing here? Naruto hasn't graduated yet."

Anko glared at Tenten, "I was getting to that. For whatever reason, none of the teachers at the academy actually teach him anything, with the exception of Iruka, so the Hokage set it up that we would help him get up to where he is supposed to be so he can graduate next year."

"Why do they hate you so much, Naruto?" Tenten asked, immediately sending him into a panic attack. He knew, he just didn't want to tell her yet, since the fox was the reason she had no parents. He was saved from answering, though by Anko.

"It's a long story, he'll tell you some other time. We're late enough as it is." Naruto looked at her with an expression of silent thanks. "Now, Naruto will be with Iruka in the morning, so that will be when we work," she said to Tenten. "The afternoons will be for helping the brat get caught up."

They both mumbled a response. "I can't hear you brats, speak up!"

"Hai, sensei," they both replied. "Now then, I want you two to spar so that I can see what you need to work on. Start with just taijutsu first."

Tenten just arched an eyebrow, while Naruto looked apprehensive. It was no secret to any of them; Naruto's skills were horrible, with the exception of his henge, and his stealth. He could transform and hide with the best of them, but once he was found, the only advantages he had were near limitless stamina and chakra. He was a rather accomplished trap maker, but that didn't really help him in a fight.

Still, Naruto and Tenten squared off, with her slipping into the academy stance, while Naruto slid into his extremely bastardized version of it. Anko cringed just looking at it, it was so bad. The fight didn't go very well for him either. In addition to having almost no training, he was holding back since he didn't want to hurt Tenten.

"Naruto, stop holding back! She's not gonna break if you hit her."

Naruto just grumbled more and stopped pulling his punches. It certainly helped, but he still got his ass kicked. After about the tenth straight loss for Naruto, Anko decided to move on. "Alright, what ninjutsu do you know?"

"Well, I just got the three," Tenten replied, while Naruto just mumbled something that neither one could catch.

"What did you say brat?"

"I said I can do henge. I get kawarimi sometimes, and I can't make a bunshin to save my life," Naruto said while staring at the ground.

"Come here, brat, I might be able to tell you why you can't do a bunshin. I'm guessing your control is absolutely terrible?" Naruto nodded sadly. "Well, it goes with having so much chakra." She then pulled a sheet of paper out of one of her pockets. It was divided into six sections. "This is a type of chakra paper. It gives a rough visual approximation of your chakra capacity."

Naruto looked beyond confused, while Tenten was following without any problems. "Uhh, you channel chakra into it and it tells you how much chakra you have."

"Ohh, ok."

"Now, I will demonstrate," she said, and channeled her chakra into the paper, causing four of the six sections to turn black. "This is how much chakra I have, which is pretty normal for a jounin. Hokage-sama has a little over five, I think."

She then gave the paper to Tenten, who managed to turn about half of one square black. "A little low, but still decent," she said to the girl, before handing it to Naruto.

"Does it matter how much I channel into it?" he asked.

"Nope. It reacts with the chakra somehow and it just knows how much you have. I really don't know how it does that, so don't ask."

"Here goes," Naruto called out, as he began to channel his massive reserves into the paper. The results were shocking, to say the least. The whole paper instantly turned jet black, and began to smoke, before bursting into flames. He quickly dropped it, before looking up at Anko, "Uhh, what does that mean?"

"Uh, well, I guess it means that you have a LOT of chakra. Here, try it again just in case," she said, pulling out another sheet of the paper. Naruto channeled chakra into it again, and got the same results. What they didn't know was that the paper was reacting wit the fox's chakra, too, which was why it was overloading like that.

Needless to say, Naruto's last year at the academy was rather interesting. He sat through all of Iruka's morning classes henge'd into an assistant, and all of his afternoons getting beat up by Anko. He wanted to learn ninjutsu, but she wasn't allowed to teach him any beyond the academy ones until he graduated. Once he had a competent teacher, he soaked them up like a sponge, or at least as much as his limited chakra control would allow. He still couldn't make a good bunshin, but his kawarimi was much better, as were the rest of his academy skills.

His control, while still bad, improved by leaps and bounds, and by the end of the year could do tree climbing without conscious thought, and could almost do the water walking. The only thing he really had problems with, besides his control and bunshins, was when Anko tried to teach him Katon: Sekitan Hibana, (Ember Spark) the academy fire jutsu. When he saw it, his eyes went wide, and he backed far away from her, before falling over and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Anko found the reaction very odd, since he wasn't afraid of any other fire technique she had used. Fortunately Tenten wasn't there at the moment, so there was no need to explain it to her.

"You ok, brat?"

"Yeah, I….I just don't like that technique."

"Why not?" Anko asked, confused.

"That was the one I was lit on fire with when I was seven," he murmured out in reply.

Realization hit her like a brick wall. It was the first time he had seen the technique since that day, and he obviously hadn't completely gotten over it. Seeing it again had apparently triggered some repressed memories.

"Alright, we'll end here for the day. Go home and get some sleep. It will help the memory fade again. It may seem worse in the short run, but overall it's much better to deal with it sooner rather than later."

"Really?"

"Yup. I've seen and done some really bad things in my life, and I still have nightmares every once in a while, but they're not near as bad as they used to be."

"Alright, sensei," Naruto said, as he began to head home. When he got there, he went straight to bed, even though it was barely past dinner time. It didn't take him long to fall asleep, but instead of nightmares, he landed in his mindscape. He wandered to where the fox was, to see what she wanted.

"Whaddaya want, Kyu-chan?"

"**I thought you trusted me, Naruto." **The fox looked disappointed, and a little sad as she said this, confusing Naruto.

"But I do, Kyu-chan."

"**Then why won't you let me help you?"**

"Huh?"

"**You keep burying your emotions and bad memories, even though you have been told repeatedly not to. It's not healthy. You need to face them and come to terms with them. What if you had been on a mission and an enemy used the ember spark? You would be dead right now. I can help you, but only if you are willing to go all the way this time. You must bare yourself completely. I know that you fear that more than anything else in the world, but for me to help you I must know it all. I know that you deliberately hid memories from me last time, but I chose not to say anything about it.**

**Also, just so you know, I am capable of just looking at them by myself, without any input or consent from you, but I feel that would violate your privacy."**

Naruto looked at the fox with a defeated expression. He knew that this was something he had to do, but he really didn't want to have to relive all of his bad memories again. Especially not _that_ one, because this time he would get all of it. The last time he and Kyu-chan had gone over it, she had spared him the worst bits of it, but not this time. This time, he was coming completely clean with her, and she with him.

"Ok," Naruto said, looking at the fox again, this time with a determined look, "Let's get this over with."

**AN: If anyone wants to beta for me, please pm me, especially if you're good at Anko, since I just don't feel like I got her right. Also, writing young Naruto is a pain in the ass, what with the fact that I'm 20 and I'm trying to write from the perspective of a kid. It's a lot harder that it seems to not make him, and everybody else for that matter, sound too smart.**

**Thank you to all those who 'applied,' but i have found a beta for the time being. thank you.  
**

**Naruto also still has underlying problems from the attack. I know a lot of you thought that he was cured of all that, but it just didn't seem realistic enough for a kid to go through that much trauma and not have some sort of severe, long-lasting issues with it.**

**The chakra paper thing is an original idea from me. I mean, if they have paper that can react to a person's element, why can't there be a paper that reacts to the amount someone has?**

**Oh, I'm not planning on writing much (if any) on what happens during Iruka's classes. I just really don't want to write a bunch on Sakura and Ino fawning over Sasuke like he's god while simultaneously having them all pound Naruto into the ground.**

**There will also be a major revelation in the next chapter, so enjoy!**

**chapters 6 & 7 are being beta'd right now, and as soon as i get them back, they will go up together.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Storm Ch 6**

Naruto walked through the bars of the cage and sat down back to back with the fox, while trying to emotionally prepare himself for what he was about to witness.

"**You ready, Naruto?"**

"I guess. Let's just get his over with."

Naruto then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Kyuubi began the memory viewing technique.

The earliest ones he had were of him after the sealing while he was in the hospital, and they continued through the rest of his life. Most were not pleasant, and none were anything close to a normal childhood. It ended up taking them several hours to get through the un-edited and raw memories of _that night_, but the rest of them went by without much incident. Well, until they finished, anyway.

As soon as the fox had released the memory viewing technique, Naruto spun around and hugged her as hard as he could, locking her in a death grip hug. A short while later, his grip relaxed enough for her to turn to face him. Then she draped her arms around him returning the hug. Before long, he was asleep in her arms.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Once Naruto fell asleep, his dreams were mercifully free of nightmares, and when he awoke, finding that it was almost ten the next day, he found himself unable to remove a particular dream from his head.

The dream was his life without ever having had the fox attack Konoha. He knew that because he had no whisker marks on his face, nobody called him names as he was led through the village, and he seemed to have a caretaker of some sort.

He seemed to be around four or five in this dream, and the woman who was leading him around was very pretty. She was almost five and half feet tall, and had waist length reddish-orange hair. Her eyes were a slightly pale green, although they were full of life. She was wearing a tan kimono, and since he was dressed up as well, he assumed that they were on their way to some kind of festival.

He had gotten tired of walking at one point, so the woman had picked him up, and kissed him on the cheek, a huge smile on her face. The sensations brought about by the dream kiss were so strong they were actually what woke him up.

'_Huh, like that would ever happen to me. I wonder what Jii-chan would think about it.'_ Naruto rarely remembered his dreams, and whenever he did, he always went and told the old man about them. When he got there, though, the guard wouldn't let him into the tower.

"I highly doubt that the Hokage wants to see a demon like you," the ANBU spat out, while casually resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Now go away before you annoy me."

Naruto's reaction surprised the ANBU. He started laughing. This made the ANBU very angry, but he noticed that the Hokage was right behind him before he could do anything about it.

"Yagi, (goat) did you say that the demon was trying to see me?" the old man asked.

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"That's what I thought you said. Well, you're fired. Please report to the academy tomorrow morning for enlistment if you wish to continue to be employed as a shinobi of this village. If you have a problem with that, please take it up with Ibiki," Sarutobi said while glaring at the now ex-ANBU. The man just stood there in shock, unable to believe that he had just been fired.

The old man then turned to Naruto, "Well, come on, Naruto. I just got out of a council meeting and need to relax."

Naruto just followed the old man into the tower, thinking that the council meeting must've been really bad if the old man was just up and firing people who made him mad.

Xxxxxxxxxx

As soon as Sarutobi sat down behind his desk, he immediately gathered up all the papers on it as stuffed them into a drawer, declaring that he would do it later.

"So, what brings you here today?"

Naruto then went on to tell him about what happened the previous day with Anko, and about the memory thing with Kyuubi. He then went on to describe his dream to him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I just can't get a good mental image of what this woman looked like." Naruto had been trying to explain it for almost half an hour.

"Hmm, ah, I know, Henge!" Naruto yelled out, transforming himself into the woman from his dream. "This is what she looked like, Jii-chan!"

Sarutobi just stared at the woman, his jaw hanging somewhere near the floor in the basement of the tower. He shook himself out of his stupor before Naruto noticed, and slowly asked, "Naruto, did you ever hear what her name was?"

"No, but everyone was really nice to her, why? Do you know her?" Naruto asked, releasing the Henge.

"Hai, but before I tell you who it is, I want you to sit down." Naruto sat. "I want to tell you her name, but I am afraid I can't do that. Before you ask, she had a lot of enemies, and if they knew about you, they might try to hurt you, and I don't want that."

"What do her enemies want with me? I've never seen her before!" Naruto shouted out.

"You have, actually, you just don't remember it. That woman is your mother, Naruto."

"Huh? That's my mother? Why do you think that?" Naruto asked, clearly not believing him, but at the same time hoping desperately that it was true. He had never told anyone, but he had always secretly feared that his parents had just abandoned him because they didn't want him.

"I was there when you were born, Naruto."

Naruto just sat in shock, before bursting out in tears. "What's wrong Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, as he got up from his desk.

"If I got a mom, why am I an orphan? She hates me, doesn't she?" he sobbed out, his worst fear having been just confirmed. His mother hadn't wanted him, and had thrown him out in the street.

Realization suddenly dawned on the old man, and he threw himself towards the boy at near-Hiraishin speed, wrapping him up in a hug. "Shh, Naruto, that's not what I meant. When she held you right after you were born, I could tell that she loved you more than anything else in this world. The reason she isn't here now is because…..well, it's because she's not with us anymore. She gave birth during the Kyuubi attack, and all the demonic chakra in the air, combined with some complications during the birthing itself, were just too much for her body to handle. I'm sorry, Naruto, I really am. I was going to tell you when you made Genin, but I guess you beat me to it."

Naruto just sobbed into the Hokage's shoulder for awhile, until a thought was finally able to form in his head. "W-what about my dad," he asked slowly, like he was almost afraid of the answer.

"I know who your father is, but I can't tell you who he is yet, either. There are even more people who wanted him dead than wanted your mother dead, to the point that they would consider sending an army here just to kill his son. I can tell you though that he loved you very much, and it pained him more than anything to leave you and your mother to fight off the fox. I am sure that they are beyond proud of you, just like I am," Sarutobi told the boy, tears of his own rolling silently down his wrinkled cheeks.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next day finds Naruto waiting to take the graduation test for the academy. Fortunately, the class was leaving him alone. Well, they actually hadn't realized that he was in the room yet, since he hadn't said anything yet to draw attention to himself. He was too busy thinking about what he ad learned the previous day.

The fact that both of his parents were dead didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, and he was very glad that they hadn't abandoned him. His biggest secret fear had been laid to rest; his parents loved him. He was so lost in thought he almost missed his name being called to go take the test. He walked down to the front of the class, ignoring all the taunts that he would fail.

When he got into the room that he was to be tested in, Iruka sat down, and Mizuki said, "Alright, Naruto, you just need to spar with me for a little bit, and then do a Henge, a Kawarimi, and make three clones, ok?"

"Hai, sensei," Naruto replied, and began to spar with Mizuki. The Chunin was surprised at how much Naruto had grown, but didn't really care about him. Naruto was the demon, after all.

"Ok, good. That's all for the sparring part., now Henge into Iruka-sensei." Naruto did as asked, transforming into a perfect copy of his teacher. "Kawarimi," Iruka asked, and Naruto swapped places with a chair in the corner of the room before swapping back.

"Good?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, Naruto, that was good," Iruka replied, before taking a deep breath. He knew that Naruto still couldn't make three clones to save his life. Last time he had checked, Naruto could make about one and a half. "Now you just have to make three clones, and you'll pass."

'_I can do this,'_ Naruto thought, as he began to mold his chakra. When he felt it was right, he called out, "Bunshin no Jutsu!" filling the room with smoke. Iruka held his breath, while Mizuki tried not to laugh at Naruto as the smoke cleared.

Standing before the two Chunin was two and a half Naruto's. The original, one good clone, and one clone that looked like it had some terminal disease that was seconds away from killing it. Iruka just sighed heavily, dreading what he was about to say. Naruto locked eyes with Iruka, already knowing that he failed again.

"Naruto," Iruka began. His voice was heavy with sadness and regret.

"I know, Iruka-sensei. I failed again."

"Well come on now, Iruka, he obviously tried as best he could, and has made major improvements this year," Mizuki broke in. "Can't you cut him some slack? I mean, I heard that some kid last year passed, and he can't use chakra at all."

Iruka just sighed again, "I wish there was something I could do, I really do. Unfortunately the council has 'edited' the graduation requirements, and there is no give in the new rules. If we pass him and they find out that he can't make three clones, we can lose our jobs, not just as teachers, but as shinobi altogether." Iruka said sadly.

"It's ok, Iruka-sensei. I'll just make sure that I can make three bunshin before next year," Naruto said quietly, before jumping out of the window so he wouldn't have to face his classmates without a forehead protector on.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, Mizuki found Naruto sitting on top of the Fourth's head, staring blankly out at the village.

"You know, Naruto, Iruka didn't fail you because he hates you."

"I know, Mizuki-sensei. I just really thought I would get it this time."

Mizuki waited for a few seconds before continuing, "You know, Naruto, there is a …..alternative way to graduate the academy."

Naruto's eyes lit up as he spun around to face his teacher, "Really?"

"Uh huh, I would not have said something about it earlier, but it hasn't been used for a really long time, and I kinda forgot about it," Mizuki said, laughing slightly. "All you have to do is go sneak into the Hokage tower, find the hidden scroll room, and take the biggest one in there. Once you do that, you have to learn one jutsu off of it, and then show it to me or Iruka. Now, normally I'm not supposed to help you with this, but if I was to say, drop a piece of paper with the location of the scroll room on it, as well as a good place to practice the jutsu's on the scroll, I wouldn't be helping you, now would I?"

"Nuh uh sensei, you'd be littering," Naruto said with a grin, as Mizuki wadded up a piece of paper from his pocket and dropped it on the ground. He then smiled at Naruto, before saying, "I hope to see you at the team placement tomorrow, Naruto," Then he poofed away in a cloud of smoke. Naruto reached over and picked up the discarded paper.

"So, all I have to do is learn one jutsu…."

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Iruka," Mizuki screamed as he barged into his fellow teacher's apartment, "Naruto has stolen the forbidden scroll!"

"What?" Iruka screamed back as he jumped up from his table, the papers he had been grading flying all over the room. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but Hokage-sama has ordered us all to go out and find him!"

Iruka quickly grabbed his gear, "Alright, let's go!" he said to Mizuki, before dashing off to Naruto's closest known hiding spot.

An hour after Iruka started looking for him, and three hours after he had stolen the scroll, Naruto sat in a small clearing in the woods, leaning up against an old cabin. He was very dirty, and very tired. He had been practicing non stop the whole time he had been in the clearing, and he had just finished the first jutsu he had looked at.

Just as he was about to looking for a second jutsu to learn, a very pissed off Iruka landed on the other side of the clearing.

"Naruto," he growled out, but before he could continue, Naruto interrupted him.

"Oh, hi Iruka-sensei, you're just in time, I just got done learning a jutsu from the scroll."

"Huh?"

"I just gotta show you that I can do one jutsu off this scroll and then I graduate."

"Naruto, who told you that"?

"Mizuki-sensei did. He told me that if I snuck into the tower and got this scroll, all I had to do was to show you one jutsu off of it and then you would pass me. He even told me about this place to practice!"

"He did what?"

Suddenly, several kunai started coming flying out of the trees, and acting on instinct, Iruka shoved Naruto out of their path, taking the hits himself, leaving him pinned to the wall of the cabin.

"Damn, I missed the brat. Oh, well. Naruto, I need you to give me that scroll."

"Iruka-sensei, are you ok?"

"I'll be fine. Just don't give him that scroll! He's using you to steal it for him!"

"Pfft, as if I would need a failure of a student to do that for me, even if he is a demon, I'm still better than him."

"SHUT UP MIZUKI! It's forbidden to talk about that!"

"To talk about what, that Naruto is the Kyuubi, the same Kyuubi that killed your parents"?

"YES!"

"Oh. Oops."

"It's ok, Iruka-sensei. I already know about Kyuubi."


	7. Chapter 7

**Storm Ch 7**

Mizuki and Iruka both looked at him, "Huh?"

"I already know that I hold the Kyuubi. You can't scare me with it," Naruto said, surprising the two Chunins.

Mizuki recovered first, "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter that you know that you're a demon." He then removed one of the fuuma shuriken from his back and began to spin it. "You're still going to die here!" he then hurled the massive shuriken at Naruto.

Now, Naruto was known for not being afraid of much in the ninja world, a fact that he was secretly very proud of. He was not afraid of being injured, he was not afraid of Anko, he was not afraid of the Hokage, and he wasn't afraid of the ANBU. He wasn't afraid of Kyuubi. The few times he had been allowed to hold weapons at the academy, he wasn't afraid of those, although that might have been due to the fact that he wouldn't have been able to cut hot ramen with them. He wasn't afraid of them the one time he held sharp ones either.

However, the sight of a shuriken big enough to cut him in half flying at his face was enough to make him afraid. This was, after all, the first time someone had thrown a fuuma shuriken at him. He was so afraid, that he wasn't able to move out of its path. Realizing he was about to die, he closed his eyes, and waited for it to split him at the waist.

A second later, his ears told him that the shuriken had impacted flesh. _'That's weird,'_ he thought, _'I figured being cut in half would hurt a lot more than this…'_ He then cracked his eyes open, only to see Iruka crouched over him, with the shuriken sticking out of his back.

"It's….nnng…ok, Naruto, I don't…aaagh…hold it against you. After all, it's impossible to kill that many people when you're only a few hours old."

Mizuki just stared at them from his perch on a tree branch, and then started laughing at them. "I can't believe you, Iruka. You just protected the thing that killed your parents!"

"I suppose I did, didn't I? However, as much as I would love to see the fox dead in a ditch somewhere, I would rather have Naruto alive than the fox dead," Iruka said as he stood up, yanking the giant shuriken from his back.

"Too bad I'm going to kill you both then, isn't it?" Mizuki then unleashed his second shuriken, which Iruka blocked by throwing the one that had been in his back. They impacted each other and flew off into the woods, slicing through several tree branches.

Mizuki then charged Iruka, pulling out a kunai. Iruka countered with his own, but due to his injuries, it didn't take long for Mizuki to overpower him. Before he could finish off the other chunin, though, Naruto shook himself out of his shock induced stupor and landed a knee to Mizuki's face.

When Mizuki looked at Naruto, he found the young student leveling a death glare at him, and then heard him say, "If you touch Iruka-sensei again, I'll kill you."

"As if, you couldn't kill a dying rat, let alone a Chunin like me"! Mizuki shouted. By the end of his statement, Mizuki was charging Naruto, another kunai ready to be plunged into the blond's chest.

"Wanna bet?" Naruto growled out, crossing his fingers into a seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"!

Mizuki was forced to stop charging from all the smoke, and when it cleared, it revealed over two hundred Naruto's, all of whom immediately started taunting Mizuki.

"Oh, big deal, you made a bunch of clones, not like they can actually _do_ anything."

"That's wrong, Mizuki," Iruka interrupted, "Kage bunshin are different from regular bunshin in that it makes solid bodies, capable of dealing actual damage."

This news made Mizuki pale, and all the clones picked that moment to charge. When the dust settled, Mizuki was very much unconscious.

"Eh hehehe," Naruto laughed nervously, his right hand scratching the back of his head, "Guess I was too much for him."

Iruka just chuckled briefly, and slumped down further against the tree he was leaning against, before standing up fully. "Naruto, can you come over here? There is something that I want to give to you."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the Hokage was calling off the search for Naruto. "It's alright now, Naruto has been found, and will be back here shortly."

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Sensei, can I open my eyes yet?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Alright, go ahead," Iruka replied.

Naruto opened his eyes, revealing a slightly different looking Iruka, who had his goggles in his hand.

"Gashi O Sotsusha, Naruto".

Slowly, the implications of Iruka's words made their way into Naruto's head. _'Congratulations on graduating? Why would he say that? It would have to mean I graduated.'_ Naruto looked back up at Iruka, and noticed that he wasn't wearing his forehead protector anymore. _'Well, that explains why he looks different. Wait, he has no forehead protector, and he's holding my goggles in his hand…what am I feeling on _my_ forehead then?' _Naruto slowly reached his right hand up, and ran it across his forehead, his fingers brushing against a warm, engraved metal plate.

As he began to realize what Iruka had done, tears began to form in his eyes. His fingers traced the Konoha leaf engraved on the plate, as well as all the scratches and scuff marks on it. "Arigato, Iruka-sensei," Naruto finally managed to choke out, tears streaming down his face.

"Well, come on let's go get some ramen, my treat." Iruka replied, smiling brightly.

Naruto then grabbed Iruka into a bone crunching hug, knocking him back into a tree, and while Iruka was screaming out in pain, inside he couldn't be happier.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Two days later, Naruto is walking through the academy for the last time as a student. He walks slowly, savoring the few good memories he has of the place. As he approached Iruka's room, he steeled himself for the barrage of questions he knew he would get as soon as he walked in. He had, after all, not returned to the classroom after taking his genin test.

When he reached the door, he took a deep breath, and slid it open. Stepping inside the room, it immediately fell silent, until Kiba yelled out, "Hey, what are you doing in here? You're not supposed to be here unless you passed, and you didn't."

Naruto just sighed. "You must be blind, mutt-face, because I have a forehead protector," Naruto said, while jerking his thumb to his covered forehead. "I have just as much right to be here as you do." He then walked over to a seat and flopped down between Shikamaru and Shino, figuring that it would be quieter there.

Greetings were exchanged between the three, meaning Shikamaru lifted his head just enough to see that it was Naruto before falling back asleep, and Shino just tipped his head forward just enough for Naruto to detect the movement. Greetings being finished, Naruto spent the rest of the time until Iruka showed up glaring at Sasuke.

When Iruka walked in a few minutes later, Naruto could barely tell that his teacher had had a giant shuriken sticking out of his back two days ago. His limp was almost gone too.

"Alright, everybody, quiet down," Iruka began, which everyone ignored. He waited for a few minutes, as his eyebrow twitch got worse, and when a vein began to bulge on his forehead, Naruto quietly put his hands over his ears. As soon as he had, Iruka let loose his patented 'Big Head no Jutsu' and yelled, "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

This managed to get the attention of the class, and they sat down, only for Sakura to yell out, "Sensei, why is Naruto-baka here? He didn't pass his test."

"Sakura, look at Naruto and tell me what is on his head."

Sakura turned to look at Naruto, and sure enough, she saw his forehead protector. "But he didn't come back afterwards like he was supposed to!" she yelled next.

"So what, I was hungry and went to get some food," Naruto grumbled out, "Just 'cause I didn't come back doesn't mean I failed."

Sakura opened her mouth to continue the argument, but Iruka cut her off, "Well, since everyone is here, I'll announce the teams." He then preceded to list off teams one through six, each time making the girls who were picked upset because they weren't on a team with 'Sasuke-kun.' "Team seven is Sai, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura."

"HA! Take that, Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted out, while Ino just glared back at her.

"Ahem, your jounin instructor is Hatake Kakashi. Team eight is Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your jounin instructor is Yuuhi Kurenai. Team nine is still in use, so next is team ten, which is Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino, led by Sarutobi Asuma."

Ino was mortified. Her rival was on a team with her Sasuke-kun, and she was stuck with the embodiments of fat and lazy.

"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked. "What team is he on?"

"He's probably not on one because he failed,' Kiba replied.

Iruka glared at both of them, shutting them up, before turning to Naruto with a pleasant smile on his face, "Naruto, feel free to rejoin your team at any time."

"Huh?" several people said.

"Ugh, Naruto has been on a team for the last year already. If you have any questions about it, ask him."

Every head in the class turned to look at Naruto, who pointed at the door, "Ask her."

Standing in the doorway was a woman, five and a half feet tall, wearing a brown mini skirt, a tan trench coat, and a mesh shirt that covered basically nothing. She had purplish hair done up in a style similar to Shikamaru's, and brown eyes.

Kiba started drooling as soon as he saw her, Sasuke glared at her, and Chouji dropped his chips. Shikamaru kept sleeping, and nobody could tell if Shino had a reaction. The girls were all in shock that she walked around dressed like that.

Iruka even had to turn away for a moment to let the color drain out of his cheeks, and once he had control of himself, he turned back to Anko, "The class wants to know a little bit about you, Anko. Would you care to enlighten them?"

"Eh? I'm just here to pick up the brat."

"Come on, sensei, mess with their heads a little," Naruto said, smirking slightly.

"Fine, brat, you win." It was at that point that she noticed Kiba drooling, and decided to fix the problem. "Senei Jashu," she shouted out, directing her arm at the drooling Inuzuka. Several snakes shot out of her sleeve, wrapping him up and hoisting him into the air. She then retracted the snakes, bringing the still bound Kiba closer to her. "Look here, I greatly dislike perverts, and if you don't stop looking at me like that, you'll find a certain part of you no longer attached." She then pressed a kunai against the part of him she would remove with her other hand, while a few of the snakes hissed right next to Kiba's ear. "Understand? Oh, and I won't just do it to you. Your dog will get it too."

Akamaru just cowered and whined from on top of Kiba's head, and Kiba shakily replied, "H-hai."

The class turned back to look at Naruto to judge his reaction, and he said, "What? You should see her when she's angry. Never, ever, mess with her dango."

"I got you good for that. Learned your lesson though, didn't you brat?"

"You didn't really have to go that far."

"What happened?"

"She stripped me to my underwear and let about forty snakes have their way with me while I was tied to a tree."

"Bah, that was light punishment. Anyway, it's time to go, brat. We've wasted enough time here already."

The two then left the room, leaving the class speechless.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When they arrived at the training area outside the forest of death, Tenten was waiting for them. "What took you guys so long?"

"Kiba was eyeing sensei like a side of beef."

"Oh, never mind then."

"Shut up brats. Now that blondie here has passed, we can do some better stuff than we have been. First thing, though, I want you two to spar again, since it's been like a month or something since the last time."

"Rules," Tenten asked.

"No fatal blows, try not to make any others too deep, other than that, anything goes."

Naruto looked at Tenten, "All out from the start?"

Tenten arched an eyebrow, "You really want to be a pincushion that bad?"

"Ha ha, I learned a new jutsu a few days ago and I want to try it out."

They each dropped into academy stances, and Anko signaled them to begin. Tenten immediately went into a defensive stance, waiting for Naruto's inevitable bull rush. This time though, it never came. Instead, Naruto crossed his fingers into a seal, and announced the name of his technique, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" the clearing was blanketed in smoke, and when it cleared, there were fifteen Naruto's facing Tenten.

"So you figured out how to make clones, big deal, they can't really do anything."

Anko was in shock. She hadn't read the report from the Mizuki incident yet, and had no idea that he could make shadow clones.

Meanwhile, the Naruto's were continuing their conversation with Tenten. "Really, you want to stand by that statement?"

"Of course I'm going to. Clones aren't real, they're just illusions. Everybody knows that, baka."

"Alright, I dare you to stand there while my clones throw kunai at you."

"Deal, and when they pass through me harmlessly, you have to buy me lunch. Dango, all you can eat."

Naruto just smirked, "Alright, but when they hit you, you gotta stay that way for the rest of the day, and I promise that I won't hit anywhere perverted."

She thought about it for a minute, before agreeing to it. The clones took careful aim, and each threw a kunai at her simultaneously, leaving no room for doubt. Thirteen of the fifteen kunai bounced off various parts of her body, and the last two skimmed through her hair.

There was a loud poofing noise, and Tenten asked, "Alright, I admit that they're real clones, but why do I have to stay this way? You didn't do anything to me."

A voice then spoke behind her, "Wrong, Ten-chan." The voice, which was another Naruto clone, yanked off her headband, revealing what the two kunai that skimmed her hair had done. They had cut through the ties holding her buns in place, and when the clone removed the headband; her hair was free to hang loose.

"Hey! Give that back!" she screamed at the clone, who immediately tossed the headband back to her. Headband in hand, she turned back to the original, "So why did you do that? You know I hate having my hair down. It gets in the way too much."

"Hehehe, that's why I did it," Naruto replied, smirking slightly. It quickly went away though, when he noticed a gleam forming in her eyes, a gleam that promised pain at the hands of her and her beloved arsenal of pointy things.

"Oi, whiskers, I suggest you run now," Anko said, still pondering about Naruto's clones.

Naruto just created about thirty more clones and took off, Tenten close on his heels. Anko meanwhile was trying to scrape her jaw off the ground at the amount of clones he could make. _'It's like the brat is a one-man army. Not even Hokage-sama can make that many kage bunshins without feeling it, and he does it like it's nothing!'_


	8. Chapter 8

**Storm Ch 8**

Naruto and his few remaining clones were now running around the forest of death at top speed trying to avoid Tenten and her beloved pointys. He was also learning that his clones were far less durable than he was. One hit to a clone and poof! It's gone, just like that. He had initially tried deflecting her weapons with his own, until he remembered that she carried far, far more than he did. After that realization, he just ran.

Naruto was about to start his tenth lap around the forest when Anko snagged him right out of the air, along with Tenten a moment later.

"Brat, where did you learn to make kage bunshin?" Naruto just looked at her, and raised an eyebrow, slightly tilting his head toward Tenten, silently asking how much she knew. Anko slightly shook her head no, telling him that Tenten knew nothing.

"Mizuki-teme convinced me to steal the forbidden scroll. I did, and learned kage bunshin from that."

Tenten's jaw hit the ground. "There's no way a Genin stole the forbidden scroll. It's like, locked up in the Hokage tower!"

Anko looked at her, "You're right, a Genin didn't steal it. An academy student did. The scroll wasn't just hidden in the tower, either. It was in Hokage-sama's office."

Tenten just looked at Naruto, her jaw still on the floor. "Since I can tell you want to know how I did it, I'll tell you. Mizuki-teme gave me a paper that had the location of the scroll on it, as well as where all the guards were. When you know where they all are, it makes getting past them really easy. Anyway, when I got to Jii-chan's office, I knocked him out and took the scroll to a clearing out in the woods where I practiced kage bunshin. Right after I got it down, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki showed up, which is when I learned that Mizuki was a traitor. He and Iruka-sensei fought, and Iruka-sensei got beat up kinda bad. After that, I finished Mizuki-teme off with kage bunshin."

"Hey brat, how'd you knock out Hokage-sama?"

"Both of you promise you won't hit me or anything and I'll show you."

"Huh?"

"Jii-chan is a pervert, and I used my anti-pervert jutsu on him. I used it on Iruka-sensei in class once too, and Sakura, Ino, and some other girl hit me so hard I went through the wall."

"Alright, brat, I promise not to hit you. Buns"?

Tenten just glared at Anko for being called buns, but said, "Hai, I promise too. I wanna know how to take out a kage."

"Alright, but I don't know if it would work against the other ones, it's just for perverts. Orioke no Jutsu," Naruto shouted out, transforming into a slightly older naked female version of himself, with wisps of smoke just barely covering the essentials.

He then walked over to Anko, unconsciously swaying his hips, until he was close enough to hang off of her. He leaned in close to her and whispered, "Come on, Anko-sama, let's go have some fun."

His transformation had a strange effect on the girls. Tenten looked like she had been carved from stone due to the shock of seeing naked female Naruto, and Anko turned rather red in the face. This only increased as Naruto walked closer to her, and when he spoke into her ear, the combination of his warm breath on her ear and neck and the fact that he was looking like a naked girl was too much for the woman to handle and she keeled over backwards unconscious.

Seeing Anko fall over broke Tenten out of her stupor at the same time Naruto released the jutsu, and he bent over Anko as Tenten walked up next to him.

"Huh, that's the first time a girl passed out from that. Wait, she's got a nosebleed too! Anko-sensei is a pervert!"

This brought Anko back into consciousness, and she promptly whacked Naruto on the head while she wiped the blood away from her nose. "Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Change into naked women, baka!" Tenten continued, "It's demeaning!"

"Huh?"

'_Well, that's not what I was going to say, but I guess it works,'_ "What she means brat is that it makes women look bad."

"Oh. Sorry, but it worked on you sensei. That means you're a pervert!"

This accusation actually made Anko sweat a little. She really did not want to explain to them that she liked both men and women, and that her ears and neck were very sensitive to being breathed on like that. "I am not a pervert, and if you do that to me again, I will cut off certain parts of you, and feed them to my snakes. Understand?" she finished, glaring at Naruto, while inwardly wishing he would do it again.

"Now then, I told each of you last month that I was going to try to train you in weapons, and to pick some that you wanted to try. I want to know what you came up with," Anko said, changing the topic.

"Oh, I want to learn katana and nunchaku," Tenten said happily, since it involved her and learning about pointy things.

"Naruto"

"Well, don't laugh, okay? Anyway, I was reading this old book and some of the weapons in it sounded fun."

"What were they?"

"Well, there was twin kodachi, staff, and bow."

"What's a bow?" Tenten asked.

"Well, it looks like this." Naruto summoned a clone, and it henge'd into a bow.

"What does it do?"

Naruto summoned another clone, turning that one into an arrow. "It does this." He picked up the arrow, fit it to the bow, and drew it back to his face. He then pointed it at a tree, and released the arrow. The bow twanged and the arrow buried itself in the tree trunk.

"So why do you want to learn that? I can do the same thing with a kunai."

"Tenten, how far can you accurately hit a target with enough force to kill?"

"Well, if I use chakra in my throw, about a hundred feet. Why"?

"I don't know how true this is because I can't do it yet, but the people in my book could put an arrow through the plate steel armor their enemies were wearing at double that distance, and if they had no armor they could kill at three times that distance, and all they used was their muscles. Just imagine that with chakra added."

"Wow."

"Well, brat, I know people who can help with the staff and knives but you're on your own for the bow, same for you buns. I know people who can to katana and nunchaku but if you got anything fancy like whiskers here you're on your own. Poison, though, I can do." At the mention of poison Anko got a weird gleam in her eye, and it scared the two Genin.

"Oh, before I forget, I'm supposed to give you some kind of test on your teamwork or something like that. If you fail, you go back to the academy."

"What, I just got out of there!"

"I know, brat. I think this test is major bullshit, so we're gonna skip it. Instead, I want you two to go screw with Kakashi's team a little bit. Not enough to screw up their test, but enough to make it interesting… do it without getting caught and I'll consider that a passing grade."

"But shouldn't they be done by now? You two got here like three hours ago," Tenten said.

"Hmpf, knowing Kakashi he's just about to show up. Unless it's a life-threatening situation, he's always at least two hours late, for everything."

Meanwhile, the cogs in Naruto's head were turning full speed, until they landed on a box that was currently stashed under his bed. "Sensei, what training ground does he use?"

"Uh, number seven, I think."

"Awesome, we can stop by my apartment real quick on the way there."

A similar gleam could be found in Naruto's eyes to Anko's at the mention of poison. "We need to go there so I can get my prank supplies." Naruto's face erupted into a devious smile, and coupled with the gleam in his eyes, it made for a rather intimidating look.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto quickly led Tenten to his apartment. "It's kinda messy at the moment."

"Mine is too, so don't worry about it."

"Alright, it'll only take me a few minutes to grab what I need, so don't touch anything."

"Why not, afraid I'll break something?"

"No, I don't feel like resetting all of my traps right now."

"Ohh, fine, I won't touch anything then."

When they reached the apartment, Tenten was slightly put off by how run-down the building looked. The paint was peeling, the railings barely looked strong enough to hold up some dust, and judging by how the roof sagged, it probably leaked.

Naruto led her to his apartment, and let her in. When she saw his apartment, she was surprised how different it looked to the outside of the building. The walls were in good shape, as was the floor and ceiling. The little furniture he had looked old but comfortable. The only thing wrong with it seemed to be the fact that it was covered in cup ramen containers, and she was pretty sure she saw a pair of underwear in the corner.

As soon as Naruto entered the apartment, he disappeared to his bedroom, grabbing out his box of prank supplies, as well as his own custom made stealth suit. Since he wasn't allowed in the shop that sold them, he scavenged all the black fabric he could and made his own from the scraps. It didn't provide the same amount of protection that a normal stealth suit did, but he was able to put hidden pockets all over it. He slid into the stealth suit after discarding his jumpsuit, and after making sure all of his equipment was in place, he walked out of his room.

Tenten was mildly surprised at how Naruto looked in black. When she noticed that what he was wearing was made out of random cloth scraps that were haphazardly stitched together, she arched her eyebrow.

"Hey, I made it myself."

"I can see that. Why didn't you just buy one?"

Naruto's happy expression fell off, and he looked at the floor. "I'm…not allowed in that store, so I can't buy one," he said quietly.

"Huh? Why not"? Tenten asked, concerned over his change of emotion.

"I…..it's a long story; I'll tell you some other time," he replied, smiling again. "Now let's go get Kakashi's team!"

Xxxxxxxxxx

Hiding in the trees, Naruto and Tenten watched as team seven waited for Kakashi to arrive, as he _still_ hadn't shown up yet. The pair had started at training ground seven and back-tracked to the academy, which is where they found the three they were currently 'stalking.' Kakashi finally showed up about ten minutes after Naruto and Tenten started hiding outside the academy, and they watched as they moved to the roof and did their introductions.

They weren't close enough to hear them, but it seemed that Sakura didn't like Sai all that much, since she kept glaring at him. Whenever Sakura looked at Sasuke, she got all googly-eyed. Sai and Kakashi looked indifferent to everything, and Sasuke just glared at everything, especially Sakura.

Naruto and Tenten followed then to training ground seven shortly thereafter, and this time crept close enough to hear what Kakashi was saying.

"…..have three hours to get these bells from me. If you want to have any chance at all, I suggest that you come at me with the intent to kill."

Naruto and Tenten watched as team seven glanced at each other uneasily.

Then they heard Kakashi yell out "Start!" and poof away in a cloud of smoke. He reappeared right behind Naruto and Tenten, almost making them scream out in shock.

"Maa, you two are here why?"

"Uhh, we're completing our Genin test."

"Again, you two are here why?"

Tenten spoke this time, "Our test involves messing with your test, which seems really stupid by the way. Are you trying to turn them against each other?" Tenten had grasped the concept of Kakashi's test; they had to work together to take him down.

"Actually, yes I am. The bells create infighting among the team members while the goal of the test is to get them to work together."

"Sounds kinda backwards to me," Tenten replied.

Kakashi shrugged, "It's the same test my sensei gave me. Anyway, what exactly are you planning on doing here? I don't want you two interfering too much with my test."

Naruto just patted the bag slung over his shoulder, "I just got the usual stuff. I only brought the weak explosives, though."

"Maa, try and keep it under control," Kakashi said as he began to walk away.

"Will do, Inu-san," Naruto said. This name made Kakashi stop in his tracks. As far as he knew, the only people who knew of his ANBU identity were his ANBU teammates and the Hokage.

"Why do you call me that?" Kakashi asked, turning back to face Naruto.

"Because that's who you are. You smell the same, like dogs and straw."

"Well, don't tell anybody, since you're not supposed to know that."

"Like anyone would believe me, the only people I talk to are Ten-chan, Anko-sensei, Jii-chan, and the Ichiraku's."

"Still, try not to kill them, alright?"

"Fine, come on, Naruto, let's get them."

The gleam returned to Naruto's eyes, and as Kakashi left them, the two began to plan their attack on the other three Genins.


	9. Chapter 9

**Storm Ch 9**

As Kakashi walked away, Naruto caught a glimpse of him pulling something orange out of his equipment pouch.

"Oi, Ten-chan, I got an idea."

"Already?"

"Yeah. Kakashi reads the same porn books that Jii-chan does. Instead of messing with his test, let's mess with him."

"But how? He's a jounin; it's not like he'll fall for easy stuff."

"I know, we gotta get him off-balance. Here's my plan. According to Jii-chan, Kakashi reads those books out in public, and only reacts when people threaten his books, so…"

Xxxxxxxxxx

It was about twenty minutes after Kakashi had left Naruto and Tenten when he found the first one. The second was about ten feet from the first. The third was ten feet beyond that. He couldn't believe it. Someone had systematically discarded the first several Icha Icha editions, leaving then carelessly on the ground in the woods! He quickly gathered them up, never noticing the small poofs whenever he dropped one into his equipment pouch.

After a short trip picking up the discarded books, Kakashi about had a heart attack. There, in the middle of a clearing, was a bust young blond girl, in a very, _very_ tiny and tight bikini, standing next to the entire boxed set of _every_ Icha Icha book, _ever._ Even the limited editions were there.

Kakashi's visible eye lit up, and he charged the clearing, startling the girl just enough for it to be considered cute, and dove headlong into the pile of porn. He grabbed the book nearest his hand, flipped it open, and began giggling like a schoolgirl on crack, while the front of his mask began to turn red.

Over in the bushes, Tenten couldn't believe that Naruto's plan was actually working. Nor could she believe that Kakashi was such a pervert. She waited until Kakashi was in position, and then signaled Naruto to begin the second stage of the plan.

"Ano, Kakashi-sama," the blonde asked, causing him to viciously rip his head out of the book he was reading. "I seem to have come undone; would you be willing to tie me back up?" she asked, slowly spinning around to show that the bottom tie of her bikini top had indeed come undone.

Reading porn was one thing; having it live and in front of him was another.

"Hai," Kakashi said as he got up, and slowly walked over to the young girl. Right before he could grasp the ties, though, a small dart hit him in the back of the neck. "Huh?" he eloquently stated as he yanked it out. He then noticed that his vision was going blurry, and right before he passed out he saw the blond girl disappear in a puff of smoke, along with all of the porn books.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Wow, Ten-chan, you got him good," Naruto said, as he poked Kakashi in the face with a stick.

"What, you doubted me?"

"NO! I just didn't think that my plan would work _that good_ against him. I mean, he's supposed to be a _jounin_."

"Yeah. Oh, hey, didn't he say something about them having to get bells?"

"Yeah, why?" Naruto replied.

Tenten pointed to the two bells attached to the unconscious jounin's belt. "I say we take those and go mess with the rest of them."

Now, it is important to note that Tenten has never pranked anybody before in her life. Much to her surprise, she found it to be quite enjoyable, and was already thinking of other people she could do this to.

"But how?" Naruto asked. He was currently wracking his brain, trying to figure out a way to prank the rest of Kakashi's team with just two bells.

"Well, you said that Sasuke is an arrogant jerk, right? Wouldn't it make him really mad if we showed up with the bells, dragging Kakashi behind us all tied up?"

This got the gears in Naruto's head going full speed. "Ohhh! I got another idea!"

Xxxxxxxxxx

The genin of team seven had met up, and were currently arguing about what plan to use. Sakura had figured out that they were supposed to team up against Kakashi, but Sasuke was being an ass like usual and insisting on doing it alone. Sai, on the other hand, just kept insulting both of them, calling Sakura 'ugly' and calling Sasuke 'duck-ass' in reference to his hair. This of course made Sasuke angrier, which made him want to work alone even more.

Imagine their surprise then, when the so-called 'dead-last' of their academy class, along with several clones of himself, walk into their clearing dragging the tied up and unconscious body of their teacher.

"Naruto-baka! What the hell are you doing here?"

"What's it look like, Sakura-chan? I brought you your sensei back!"

It was at that moment that Sakura noticed the bound form of their new sensei. "You better not have messed up our test, Naruto! If we fail because of you, I'll pound you into next year!"

"How'd you do it, dickless?" (one guess)

Naruto glared back at Sai, "I played to his weaknesses, and had some help."

"Psh, I could beat him no problem," replied Sasuke.

"Yeah, the all great and powerful fresh out of the academy Uchiha Sasuke-teme is going to take down an ex-ANBU captain by himself. That's about as likely as me drowning in ramen in the next five seconds. One, two, three, four, five, guess what? It didn't happen!"

Before he could reply, Sasuke was interrupted by a male voice, screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO!" until Tenten walked up and kicked him in the ribs, thus silencing him again.

"Oh, hi Ten-chan."

"Hi Naruto, this Ero-Kakashi's team?"

"Don't call Kakashi-sensei that!" yelled Sakura.

"Look here, pinky, you really want to know how we knocked your sensei out?"

"Yeah!" Sakura yelled back, and try as he might otherwise, even Sasuke looked interested.

"Well, first Naruto led him around for awhile with a trail of books, and then he distracted him with more books, and a henge, and then I got him in the neck with a sleeping dart."

"I can't believe I fell for that," Kakashi broke in, having allowed the air to return to his lungs.

"You tricked Kakashi-sensei with…books?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yeah, they're not even good books either," Naruto said, tossing Kakashi's prized Icha Icha book to her, "See?"

Sakura opened it and flipped through a few pages. Her cheeks then took on a light pink. She flipped a few more pages. Her face turned red. A few pages beyond that, and her face was so red she could barely remain standing.

This prompted the rest of them to look over her shoulder at what she was reading, and it didn't take long for similar reactions to develop in the rest of them, except for Sai. He just looked at the book, and said, "It describes two adults having consentual sex. What's the big deal?"

Naruto leaned over by Tenten's ear, "He's definitely gay."

Tenten just nodded, still in shock over what Kakashi read publicly.

"Naruto, I take back most of what I yelled at you about you being a pervert. Ero-Kakashi is WAY worse than you are," Tenten eventually whispered into his ear, while absentmindedly twirling some bells around her finger.

It was about this time when Sasuke realized that Tenten had Kakashi's bells, and Naruto and Tenten realized that Kakashi was out of most of the ropes binding him.

"Gimme those bells," Sasuke ordered.

"Umm, no?" Tenten replied. She glanced over at Naruto, who had begun edging away from the group. Once she caught his attention, she signaled him to cover their retreat, and she then shouted out, "You gotta take them from me!" at the same time Naruto shouted out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The surrounding area was suddenly flooded with Naruto clones, allowing the original Naruto and Tenten to escape. Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai immediately chased them. Well, Sasuke chased them, Sakura chased Sasuke, and Sai just followed after both of them because he had nothing else better to do.

For some reason, Naruto and Tenten were overcome with fits of giggles as they ran away, and they soon fell into a heap, laughing too hard to stand up anymore. This is what Sasuke saw when he caught up to them, making him instantly furious.

"Give me the bells!"

"Neh, teme, hehehehe, pull the stick out of your ass and have some fun, hehehehehe," Naruto said in between giggles.

"Besides," Tenten added, "I left the bells with Ero-Kakashi."

Sasuke just screamed, and took off back towards his sensei, almost knocking Sakura over, and shoving Sai into a tree so hard he was knocked out. Naruto and Tenten just looked at each other for a minute, and burst out laughing again.

Xxxxxxxxxx

That night, Naruto did not dream. Instead, as soon as he fell asleep, he found himself inside his mind, and immediately tracked his way to the cage. When he got there, he found Kyuubi in her human form, thinking intently.

As he approached, she spoke, **"Naruto, I think it's time I teach you something."**

"Really?" he asked, becoming very excited.

"**Yes. Every day you display more features of the kitsune."** She stopped there, seeing Naruto's face fall. Realizing what he must be thinking, she continued, **"I do not mean physically. It's more in the way you act. Your aptitude at pranking others is an example of this. So is your loyalty to your friends. Kitsune may be known for trickery, but if you ever earn the loyalty and respect of one, that bond is for life."**

"Ohh, I thought you meant I was going to turn into a fox."

"**Well, I can teach you how to do that, if you want."**

"Huh?"

"**You see my form now, how it is a mix of human and demon forms? It is called a 'hanyou' form; half demon, and half human. Normally it is not possible for a human to make a true transformation like this. Human chakra lacks the potency to make the shape shift true, limiting it to an illusion. Demonic chakra is far more potent than human chakra, so it can affect a full shape shift."**

"So I would have tails and ears like you?"

"**Well, you would only have one tail, but yes. It is called Fuzen Kitsune no Jutsu." (Partial fox technique)**

"Does it do anything else?"

"**Yes. It increases all of your senses, especially sound and smell. Your nails grow into claws, and your body becomes more flexible, stronger, and a little faster. Your canine teeth will extend slightly as well."**

"What are the seals for it?"

"**Seals?"**

"Yeah, what hand seals do I need to do it?"

"**Oh, there aren't any. How would a kitsune in their true form do these hand seals without hands?"**

"Then how do I do it?"

"**I will guide your chakra. Come over here and sit down."**

Naruto went over to the fox and sat down in front of her.

"**This will hurt the first time. Your body is not used to channeling demonic chakra, so it will have to adjust. Now, turn around."**

Naruto turned away from the fox, and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"**Now, close your eyes. I want you to picture yourself in hanyou form. Got it?"**

"Erm…yeah, I got it."

"**Now hold it. If the pain becomes too much, you will lose the image in your mind, and the jutsu will fail. Don't be disappointed if that happens. It will just take some time for your body to get used to my chakra. Are you ready?"**

"Uh, I guess," Naruto replied.

Kyuubi began to channel her chakra through Naruto's body, controlling it to effect the correct transformation. She could feel Naruto's body tense up under her hands, as well as heat up slightly. She couldn't see it, but she knew his face had a painful grimace on it.

Before long, a translucent red chakra shell began to form around his body. It got darker and darker, until it became solid. The pain suddenly spiked, causing Naruto to scream out, but he somehow managed to keep his focus on the mental image.

Eventually, the chakra shell cracked, and it revealed a transformed Naruto. He had two white tipped red ears on top of his head, and a white tipped red tail behind him. he gingerly reached his hands up to where is ears were 'supposed' to be and found only hair. He then reached around and grabbed his tail, making him yelp in surprise from the pain.

"**Careful. Those are real parts of you now. If they get injured, you will feel it."**

"Ahh! Don't yell Kyu-chan!" Naruto whispered out harshly, hands covering his ears.

"**I wasn't,"** she whispered back, **"That's just your new ears working. When you wake up, I want you to get some dark sunglasses, earplugs, and a nose plug. Go out in the woods somewhere and put them on, and then use this jutsu again. You need to get used to the upgraded senses in a controlled manner. I would start with hearing, then vision, and then smell, ok?"**

"Ok. Anything else?"

Kyuubi just shook her head, so Naruto took off, ready to start his new training.

**AN: animefanbren is beta-ing for me. and, because i dont want to make all of you wait until tomorrow for this chapter, i decided to post it in its raw, un-edited form. if afb makes any changes (which usually doesnt happen) i will update the chap then.**

**Ohh, if any of you want, i may make an omake of other pranks on Ero-kakashi and his team if you want to submit ideas...**

**for those of you looking for fox sage updates, ive kinda hit a wall in terms of ideas. (comes with making a story without a plot already thought out) ive got about half of the next chapter finished, but i just cant seem to get into the right mood to finish it, especially when i have several ideas for storm beating their way around my imagination. anything that pops up for fox sage is almost instantly gunned down by a shotgun carrying tenten, a bazooka weilding sakura, and a naruto that has a chainsaw. yeah, my imagination can be a _very, very _scary place.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Storm Ch 10**

The next day, Naruto flew through his apartment, trying to find the items he needed to train in using his new jutsu. He didn't have any ear plugs, but he figured that some bandages wrapped around his ears would work just as well. To cover his eyes he grabbed his old goggles, which had very dark lenses on them. He couldn't find any nose plugs either, so he just grabbed some more bandage material to stuff up his nostrils.

He then bounded out into the woods near where his team meeting spot. He picked a small clearing just in view of the fence surrounding the Forest of Death. As much as he and Tenten had asked, Anko-sensei refused to take them in there yet, saying that most Chunin didn't like it, so why should one Genin and one student like it?

That just made them want to go in more, of course.

Anyway, Naruto put his goggles on, and stuffed some of his bandage material up his nose. It was rather disorienting. He was about to wrap his ears up when he remembered that it wouldn't do any good, since his ears moved when he transformed. So, he left his ears uncovered, and began to focus his chakra.

It went a lot easier this time, and wasn't near as painful. There was a slight smoke cloud when the transformation finished, but it quickly dissipated. It revealed Naruto rolling around on the ground with his hands covering his ears, trying to block out all the noise.

A few hours later, and his ears were relatively used to the noise of a quiet clearing. He couldn't handle normal speaking noise yet, but he figured it was good enough for the moment. Next he closed his eyes, and slowly removed his tinted goggles. He immediately had to squeeze his eyes shut to block out the sun.

Once his eyes were used to the light enough for him to open them, he was surprised at the level of detail he could see. He could see ants on the trees across the clearing as if he was right next to them.

"Woah…."

Having by then realized that it was better to go slow, Naruto gently tugged the bandage plugs out of his nose a little bit. The scents he recognized as forest-y, but there were new ones there too. Instead of just a general forest smell, he could smell the different kinds of trees, the dirt he was standing on, and even himself.

As he pulled the wads out farther, he began to pick up on fainter smells, like some really bad smelling stuff from the other side of the fence around the Forest of Death. He even thought he was getting some smells from the village itself, although he was far too inexperienced at telling them apart to tell.

As he waited, he also began to pick up on animal smells. _"Hmmm, let's see, that ones a bird, I think…oh, squirrel? Hm. Oh, ew! There's even dog pee. This place must be closer to the park than I thought…let's see, mouse…uhh, I can't tell that one…weapon oil…wait, weapon oil? What kind of animal smells like weapon oil? Wait…now its dango and snakes? That's Anko-sensei, so the weapon oil must be Ten-Chan. Better go wait for them before they come looking for me."_

Naruto then cancelled his jutsu and walked out of the woods to where Tenten and Anko were waiting.

Anko looked over as Naruto walked out of the woods, "What'cha doing in there, brat?"

"Training," he replied.

"In the woods," Tenten asked.

"Yeah, it's a new jutsu, but it isn't done yet."

"Oooh, what's it do?"

"I'm not telling yet, it's not done. Well, it's done, but I'm not very good with it yet."

"Alright brats, how'd your test go?" Needless to say, Anko was fairly shocked when Naruto and Tenten looked at each other and fell over laughing.

When they had managed to slightly control themselves, Naruto told Anko about what they did to team seven.

"So what you two brats did was to trick Ero-Kakashi with a big stack of porn, knock him out, and then parade him in front of his Genin?"

"Yup"!

Anko stared at them for a second, and then fell over laughing. "I wish I coulda seen that perv's face!" she wheezed out as she laughed. "He was tricked with porn by a pair of Genin!"

"Neh, you shoulda seen Sasuke-Teme's face when he saw inside Kakashi's book!"

"What?"

"Yeah, Sakura-Chan wanted to know what kinda books we tricked him with, so while he was still waking up I gave Ero-Kakashi's book to her. She started looking through it and her face got really red. Sasuke-Teme and Sai-buru-bo-i (homosexual, basically Naruto is calling Sai gay) looked at it too, and Sasuke-Teme turned red too. Sai didn't do anything, so Ten-Chan and I think he's gay."

"What?"

"The book was talking about two people doing…..uh…adult things together and he had no reaction at all! I mean, all he did was look at it and say something like, 'it describes two adults having consential sex' or something."

This prompted another round of laughing from Anko. When she finished, she got their attention again. "Well, since you two passed the test, we get to go on missions now."

"Yay," Naruto shouted out, "real ninja missions!"

"Don't get too excited, brat. New Genin get D-rank missions, which I think shouldn't even count as 'missions.' You get to do stuff like fix fences, weed gardens, and go shopping for old people."

"What? Those aren't missions!"

"I know, brat. You think I'm gonna enjoy watching you two do a bunch of shitty chores? I'm used to going on solo assassinations, not watching two brats pull weeds. Now come on, if we get to the tower early enough, we can pick the least shitty ones."

Anko then led the two grumbling Genin to the tower, where they were able to pick their mission for the day. They were told to go pick up some garbage in the park, and then to go fix a fence.

Once they got to the park, their jaws almost hit the floor. There was garbage everywhere. "Sensei, how are we supposed to clean this up with just the three of us?"

"The three of us aren't. The two of you are. What, you thought I was actually going to help you do this stuff?"

The two Genin just gaped at their sensei. They had just been abandoned to clean a twelve acre park by themselves.

"When you get done, put the full bags here, they'll be picked up tomorrow," Anko told them, tossing a box of garbage bags to Tenten, "I'll be back in a couple hours to check on you," Then she shunshined away.

"What the hell? We're gonna be here all day!" Tenten screamed out, before getting a sudden idea and turning to Naruto, "If your new jutsu is some kind of garbage sucker, you'd better use it, finished or not, or else I'm gonna turn you into a porcupine!"

"No, it's not a garbage sucker jutsu. You saying that gave me an idea though. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled out, creating about forty clones. "Alright, each of you go grab a bag, and get to work! The faster we get done here, the sooner we can get to do something fun!"

"Hai!" the clones responded, each quickly grabbing a bag and starting to stuff it with garbage. When Naruto realized that they would still be there forever, he made another forty clones, and set them loose as well. With the eighty clones and the two of them, it didn't take near as long for Tenten and Naruto to clear out the park.

Anko was rather shocked when she returned to the park four hours later. She was expecting to see the two brats slogging their way through the park still. This was obviously not what she found. No, what she found was Naruto and Tenten sitting on top of a small mountain of garbage bags chatting about whatever came to mind, namely Naruto telling her about some of his pranks.

"How the hell did you do that so fast?" she asked.

"Oh, hi sensei, and as to how we did that so fast, stick around next time and you can find out for yourself!" Naruto shouted down to her, before the Genin pair jumped off the garbage mountain.

"What's next?" Tenten asked.

"Uhh, we gotta go fix a fence."

She then led them to a small house across the village. It had a garden attached, and a tree had fallen on the surrounding fence, damaging about ten feet of it. The tree had been removed already, but the fence still had the gaping hole in it.

They quickly set about fixing it, starting with planting new posts. When they finished it about an hour later, it was good as new.

They spent the afternoon doing group training, with Anko sparring against both Naruto and Tenten at the same time, trying to improve their teamwork.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next day they were a little late in arriving to the tower, so they didn't get their choice of missions. Instead they were assigned to buy some old man's groceries, and to clean the park again.

"What? We just did that yesterday!" Naruto cried out.

"Well, it seems that some wild animals got into the bags and tore them open."

Naruto just stomped out of the mission office, muttering something about "animals" and "killing."

Anko followed them to the park, which looked about the same as it did the day before, with garbage scattered across the twelve acre park.

"So, how'd you two do this yesterday without using jutsu?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you're not supposed to use jutsu on D-rank missions inside the village."

"Hmpf, to hell with that, I'm doing this MY way."

"And that is….?" Anko asked.

"Like this, Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted out, and the whole park erupted in smoke. When it cleared, there were almost five hundred Naruto's in the park, and they were all staring at the original, who shouted out, "Alright! Every one of you pick up as much as you can carry! The bags will be over here! When you're full, dump it in a bag, and go get more!"

"HAI!" they all screamed in response, and soon, Naruto and Tenten were overwhelmed by the number of Naruto's bringing them garbage, and Naruto had to make more clones to hold open bags just to keep up.

Anko just stared at the field of Naruto's, still in awe over how many the boy could make.

Eventually, she just fell into a sitting position, not able to comprehend just how he could do that without dying from chakra exhaustion.

It took the Naruto army about fifteen minutes to clear out the park this time, and they all dispelled in a huge smoke cloud. Naruto just blinked a few times, as all the unused chakra flowed back into his body.

"We're done, sensei."

"Uhh, yeah, ok."

"You ok, sensei," Tenten asked.

"Uhh, brat, exactly how many clones can you make," Anko asked.

"Hmm, oh, I don't know, a lot?"

"We've established that, brat. Tomorrow, then, we're gonna figure out just how many of those damn things you can make."

"Ok, sensei. What's the next stupid mission?"

"Uhh, we gotta go buy groceries for some old geezer."

"What? Why can't he go buy his own stuff?"

"Cuz he's an old geezer, that's why. Now let's go find him and get this shit over with."

"Hai," the two Genin replied, as they began following Anko to where the old geezer lived. They made it about a hundred yards from the garbage pile before Naruto popped a couple more clones out, and they took off back to the garbage pile.

"What was that for, Naruto?" Tenten asked.

"Their gonna watch the garbage pile and keep them stupid animals out of it, since I'm not picking all that garbage up again."

"That's actually a good idea, brat."

They talked about whatever came to mind on the way to find the old guy, and when they got there, Anko about had to blow the door off its hinges to get him to answer.

"You asked for a Genin team to pick up some items for you?" she asked the old man, trying to be somewhat respectful.

The old man looked at Anko, and then at Tenten. When his gaze hit Naruto, the seemingly kind old man started glaring at him. Anko noticed the glare, and right as the old man was about to let loose some curse at Naruto, she spoke, "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, there's a problem. There's a demon on my porch."

Tenten looked around confused, while Naruto and Anko jut glared at the old man. Anko was about to reply, but Naruto beat her to it.

"Listen, geezer, I'm not a damn demon. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"You are a demon!"

"He's my student, asshole, now shut up before I kill you," Anko spat out, "You got a problem with him, you got a problem with me."

"Hmf, the demon has bewitched you. You're nothing but a snake whore, along with your other demon whore student."

"What did you just say?" Naruto asked quietly, the intensity of his glare surprising even Anko.

"You heard me, demon, them two are demon who-"

He was cut off from speaking more when he found Naruto's fist lodged firmly in the middle of his face. "Listen, ya stupid dumbass, you can insult me all you want, but you do NOT insult my team!" Naruto then crawled off the collapsed geezer, and kicked him in the crotch for good measure. He was about to kick him again when Anko grabbed him, and after grabbing Tenten, they took off.

"Naruto-" Anko began.

"What?" he yelled back.

"You can't just go around assaulting civilians like that."

"What? How can you be defending that bastard? You heard what he said!"

"As I said, you can't just go around punching people who insult you."

"Aww, I don't care what he says about me. I punched him because of what he called Ten-Chan."

"I kinda figured, and while it most certainly isn't nice to call a woman a whore, you went about fixing it the wrong way."

"Well what was I supposed to do?"

"You let me deal with it. While I will admit drilling him in the face like that and then following it up with that kick to his crotch is an effective way to cause pain and humiliation, I know far better ways to make people miserable. Next time, let me handle it, ok?"

"…..Fine," he replied, crossing his arms.

"Naruto," Tenten asked, speaking for the first time since she heard Naruto be called a demon.

"Yeah, Ten-Chan," he replied.

"Why did he call you a demon?"

**AN: Oops, the bold part wasnt supposed to be that way for those of you who have read it. it was caused by some error when i uploaded it. it was pointed out in a review, and has now been corrected.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Storm Ch 11  
**

"Why did he call you a demon?"

Naruto stopped dead, as did Anko, and Tenten stopped a few steps later.

"What?" Naruto asked quietly, his eyes firmly stuck to the ground, his right hand unconsciously clenching his jacket at the stomach.

"I asked, why did that old guy call you a demon? And Anko-sensei, why did he call you a snake wh…. you know, and why did he call me a demon…one of those."

Anko looked down at Tenten, noticing that her expression was just honest curiosity, as well as some hurt from the man's biting words. She next looked to Naruto, and she could tell that he was struggling greatly with whether or not he should tell her about his demon. Naruto looked up at her, and she could clearly see the warring choices on his face. One side saying tell her, that she would understand, and the other not wanting to risk losing his only real friend over the demon in his gut.

As she watched his face, she noticed a third emotion run across it. It took her a second to identify it, but when she did, she realized that it had two parts to it. The first was the same honest curiosity that Tenten had as to why she was called a snake whore, and the second was him silently asking her opinion as to whether or not he should tell Tenten about the fox.

They looked at each other for a few moments, and then Anko made up her mind. Turning to Tenten, she said, "I will tell you two why he called me a snake whore, provided that you don't talk about it to other people. It is a…..difficult topic for me to discuss. Now come on, follow me."

She then set off down the road at a moderate walk, easily allowing the otherwise mentally occupied Genin to easily keep up with her. They were headed in the general direction of the tower, until Anko suddenly made a right turn, which surprised them, Naruto more so than Tenten.

His surprise only grew as they neared their destination, for they were very near to his apartment. When they finally stopped outside a group of them, Naruto realized that Anko only lived about four blocks from where he did.

"Sensei, why are we here?" Tenten asked.

Anko took a deep breath, and after releasing it said, "I live here. If you want me to talk, this is where I'm going to do it." She then led the pair up the second floor, and to a rather non-descript apartment door. She reached out to it, but before she opened it she said, "This is my safe haven, I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about where I live either."

This of course confused the hell out of Tenten, but Naruto understood her perfectly, although he didn't yet know why she would need one. After all, his apartment was his sanctuary too.

Anko then opened the door, and led them in to the apartment. They were quite surprised at how…normal it looked. They had both assumed, based on how she dressed, how she acted in public, and the fact that she worked in the torture and interrogation department that her home would be…..well…..creepy, but it was quite normal, for a ninja anyway.

The walls were white, and the carpet was apartment-standard beige. There was a couch with a matching chair in front of a small TV, as well as a bookcase full of scrolls. Anko led them over to the couch, and then went into the kitchen to get them all some water to drink, since that was all she had at the time.

When she returned, she sat in the chair, and began her tale.

"The reason that old geezer called me a snake whore stems from who my jounin sensei was, and what he did," she told them, and they clearly picked up on her dislike for whoever her sensei was, as they both felt that if she spat the term out with anymore hatred, than whoever it was would keel over stone dead just from that.

"I never graduated the academy like most students do. I was pulled out two years early by my sensei because he thought I had too much potential to waste it in the academy. While that is normally not allowed, my sensei was able to do it based on who he was, so you see my sensei was the Sannin Orochimaru."

"At the time, I was beyond ecstatic that I was chosen by a Sannin to work with. I had just been hand picked by one of the strongest ninja's ever to be his apprentice. Both of my parents had died by then, and he became a sort of surrogate father to me."

"Anyway, I trained under him for a long time, almost two years. It was around then that we were given a simple delivery mission to Sea Country, and that changed everything. I didn't know it at the time, but there were rumors spreading around the higher ranking ninja then that Orochimaru was kidnapping people and experimenting on them. I only ever heard a few of them, but immediately dismissed them as the supporters of the Fourth trying to discredit him, since the Third chose him over Orochimaru."

"So, we set off on our mission to Sea Country, along with two other Genin that had been assigned to our group. The trip there was uneventful, as was the delivery of the scroll we had. We were supposed to leave the next day to come back, but Orochimaru told us that he had an old friend who lived near there, and he wanted to visit. Where he took us though, was not a friend's house."

"He took us to a bunker he had there near the beach, and began to perform experiments on us. I don't remember what all he did, but by the time he was done, the other two Genin were dead, and I had been branded by that bastard."

Naruto and Tenten looked up at her, "Branded?"

Anko pulled the collar of her trench coat off the left side of her neck, and showed them the curse mark. "That," she said, as she sat back down, "is his brand. It is supposed to give the user of it some huge benefit, but mine doesn't work. I learned later that I was one of his guinea pigs for testing it. There is an extremely high fatality rate to anyone he applies that seal to, somewhere around ninety percent."

"Anyway, I woke up a few days later inside a shed, which is where he dumped me before fleeing Sea Country. I managed to get to the nearest village, and they sent for some med-nins to come get me. I was in the hospital still during the Kyuubi attack, and after I got out, people began to glare at me, shout curses at me, shops would refuse me service and overcharge on whatever they let me buy."

"Turns out that the rumors about that bastard experimenting on people were true, and that after he had abandoned me to die in that shed, he had briefly returned here, before being confronted by Sarutobi-sama about his actions in relation to several disappearances. The bastard somehow managed to escape, and then fled the village."

The reactions of her students were strange, although not unexpected. Tenten was in shock, especially since it was one of the Sannin that had done those things, and Naruto was quietly staring at his lap, thinking about all the abuse that he had gone through growing up, as well as the kinds of things that Anko had just described going through.

Surprisingly, to Anko anyway, Naruto spoke next, "So they hated you because of who your sensei was…"

"Mhmm. Many of the villagers thought I was some kind of spy, especially since I had his mark. Earning their trust back, and gaining the rank of Chunin, and later on Tokubetsu Jounin were not easy, and there are still some villagers that don't like me, as you saw earlier."

She paused for a few moments, than said, "I don't really know why I decided to tell you this. You are now among only a handful of people to know about this, and I would prefer to keep it that way. Even when I brought you here, I did not intend on telling you that much. Normally it is a very difficult topic for me to discuss, but I find it a lot easier to tell you two about it."

"But why snake?" Naruto asked.

"That geezer called me snake whore because that is the kind of animal I use. Bastard-sensei is the snake Sannin, and he taught me many of his Snake Jutsu."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

They all went quiet for a while, until Naruto noticed Tenten looking at him, waiting for him to tell his part of the story.

"I… I know why I am called a demon," he said quietly, "and the reason you were called that name is because you were around me."

"But why though?"

"I….. I'll tell you tomorrow. There are some things I have to do before I can tell you. Can you wait until then?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was waiting in Sarutobi's office when Anko and Tenten showed up. He was sitting on the desk, while Sarutobi reclined in his chair. The new arrivals sat, and Naruto began his tale.

He lifted up his shirt, and channeled some chakra, causing his seal to appear. "This is why that old geezer called me a demon," he said simply.

Anko and Sarutobi both had sympathetic looks, while Tenten was confused, "He called you a demon because you have a seal?"

Naruto shook his head, "It's not because I _have_ a seal it's because of _what_ is in it."

"You have something sealed inside you?"

Naruto slowly nodded his head.

"What is it?"

"You know when my birthday is, right Tenten?"

"Yeah, October tenth."

"What else happened on October tenth?"

"The Kyuubi attacked."

Naruto watched her face as she slowly realized what he was saying.

"But the Kyuubi's dead….."

Naruto shook his head. "It was too powerful for the Fourth to kill it, so he sealed it in me."

Tenten sat there in shock. Her best friend had the most powerful demon ever sealed inside of him.

"I… It's ok if you don't want me to be around you anymore….. I'll just find a different team and-"

"Oi, brat, shut up," Anko said, cutting Naruto off. "Just because you told her doesn't mean she automatically hates you. Let her answer first. Oh, and since when did I say you could transfer to another team?"

"But sensei-"

"No buts brat, Buns here just needs to have some time to get used to the fact that you got that damned oversized furball sealed in your gut."

"She hates being called that…." Naruto muttered.

"Huh?" Anko asked, trying to figure out if Naruto was insulting her.

"I said she hates being called an oversized furball."

"Wait, she? And how do you know that?"

"I know because I've talked to her, and she can hear and see everything that I do."

"You can talk to the Kyuubi?" Tenten asked, still trying to come to grips with the situation.

"Yeah, she's really nice too, just ask Jii-chan, he's met her."

Anko and Tenten looked at the Hokage, who said, "Yes, I have met the Kyuubi. While I am not entirely certain of her motives, she does not seem to bear Naruto any ill will. She greatly accelerates the rate of his healing of her own free will. Whether or not this is because she cares about Naruto or is just doing it for self-preservation I do not know."

"Hey brat, what all do you talk to the fox about?"

"Uhh, whatever comes to mind when I go there? It's not like I can talk to her whenever, only when I'm sleeping or knocked out."

"What does the fox tell you?"

"Well, right now she's training me."

"WHAT?" Sarutobi broke in.

"I said that Kyu-Chan is teaching me stuff."

"Like what?" the old man asked harshly.

"Well, so far I've only learned one Jutsu, and it's not done yet."

"What does it do?"

"Well, it kinda makes me look a little like a fox and it makes my senses a lot better."

"Look like a fox?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, it's called Fuzen Kitsune no Jutsu, and it looks like this," Naruto said, while he Henge'd into the form of the Jutsu.

The other three people were quite surprised at the form Naruto was in. Anko spoke first, "Ok, I get the ears, but why the tail?"

"Well, I learned some more about it last night and the tail is supposed to help me balance. The ears help me hear better, and the claws are supposed to help me fight better," he said, showing them his fingernails, which had lengthened into claws. "Oh, I can see and smell better, and I guess I can taste better too, but I haven't eaten anything like this."

"What did you mean by it being not finished yet?"

"Well, I can't really use it yet since I'm not used to the new senses. Everything is too loud, too bright, or smells too strong. Once I get good with this one, Kyu-Chan said she would teach me the next form, too."

"Next form?"

"Yeah, the next form let's me change all the way into a fox, but she hasn't told me anything else about it. She said my chakra control isn't good enough for that yet."

"So you have the Kyuubi sealed inside you…" Tenten said, finally coming to terms with Naruto's revelation.

"Yeah," Naruto said quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"It attacked the village, and killed people, including my parents, and then the Fourth sealed it inside you?" she continued.

"Uh huh. She killed my parents too," he replied.

"Why?"

**AN: im sorry if anko seems ooc, but i tried. this stroy has seemingly taken on a life of its own though, since i wasnt planning on having tenten learn about the fox, or the fuzen fitsune jutsu until later, but the story demanded to be written this way, so this way i wrote it. anyway, naruto will go to wave, although something major is going to happen there. not gonna say more about that though... anyway, enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Storm Ch 12  
**

"Why?"

"I don't know, Ten-Chan, she hasn't told me yet," Naruto whispered out.

It was at that point that Tenten was overwhelmed by her emotions. She may be a ninja, but she was still a young teenage girl. Tears began to fall from her eyes, and she was holding back sobs. Her eyes themselves, though, only showed anger.

Naruto slid off the Hokage's desk to go comfort her, even though he knew he was the source of her negative emotions. She jumped up as soon as he was standing, hands clenched into fists.

"What do you mean she hasn't told you?" Tenten shouted, "Go make her tell you!"

"I can't," Naruto responded quietly, "No matter what I do, she won't tell me until she's ready to."

That was the last straw for Tenten. "That's not good enough!" she screamed, launching herself at him. She began hammering her fists into his chest, but due to her emotional distress, they didn't hurt Naruto very much.

After a few moments of letting her vent her frustrations, Naruto wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest, and trapping her arms between them.

"Shhhh," he whispered into her ear as she continued to struggle, "As soon as she tells me, you'll be the first to know, I promise."

Eventually, Tenten looked up at Naruto, "You mean it?" she half whispered, half sobbed to him.

Naruto looked back at her, "Of course I do, Ten-Chan."

They went quiet for a few minutes, not even Anko or Sarutobi interrupting, until Tenten pulled back from Naruto and asked, "How long have you known?"

"About the fox, since I was seven," he said quietly, the question bringing back several flashes of that night.

Seeing the raw emotion pass across his face Tenten spoke out, "Naruto?"

"Sorry," he replied, "It's just that some bad things happened the night I found out about the fox, and I don't like talking about it."

"It's ok. I'll wait until you're ready."

"Now then," Sarutobi spoke up, scaring both Naruto and Tenten, since they forgot he was there. "What Naruto has just told you is an S-rank secret. If I find out that you've told anybody who doesn't already know about it, you will be executed as soon as physically possible. Do you understand?"

Tenten looked at the old man, "Ha…hai."

"Alright then, my next question will probably seem insensitive, but both Anko and I must know, so I will be blunt. Will this revelation affect your ability to work with Naruto?"

Tenten thought for a moment, "I don't think so. I hate the fox, not Naruto, and it can't get free, right?"

Naruto shook his head. "Even if she wanted to, it would kill us both if she tried."

"Alright, then," said Anko. "We've got training to do!"

"Ehhhh," Naruto and Tenten both asked, the emotional rollercoaster of the last couple days making a small part of them think they'd get at least one day off.

"You heard me brats. Today is the beginning of bigger, sharp things training."

Naruto, Tenten, and Sarutobi all sweatdropped at the name Anko chose for weapon training.

"Meet me at the usual spot in two hours," she said, before poofing out of the office.

"Well then," Sarutobi said after the smoke cleared, "I was going to give you a couple days off to adjust to the new information, but Anko doesn't seem to think you need it. If you decide later on that you do need some time, though, don't hesitate to come and ask for it."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Yeah, thanks Jii-Chan."

"Now, I'm sure you two have much more entertaining things to do than sit in an old mans office. Enjoy your training," he told them, and they got up to leave.

Not having anywhere in particular to go, they headed off in the general direction of their training ground.

"I feel kinda out of place here," Tenten said eventually.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, immediately thinking she was about to tell him that she wanted off the team.

"Well, it's just that you and sensei have these really huge secrets, and I don't. I've spent two days listening to you two spill out the darkest bits of yourselves, and I have nothing like that to tell about me."

Naruto was quiet for a few moments, and then said, "You really want to have a burden like us?"

"Well, I just feel bad that you both have to deal with them and I don't! Now that I know about them, I wanna help!"

"Trust me, Ten-Chan," Naruto said quietly, "Our burdens are far more trouble than their worth."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think _she_ does for me?" Naruto asked, gripping the front of his coat.

"Well, you said that she's training you, and that you can talk to her, why?"

"She also is the reason I'm banned from almost everywhere in the village. In fact, there is only a few stores that let me in, and most of them make me pay more for older stuff. She's part of the reason I did so bad in the academy, the reason I was hated so much at the orphanage, and she…she almost got me killed. Yeah, she is training me, heals me really fast, and is talking to me, but that's only been since I was seven, and the training just started."

Tenten was in shock. She knew he had it rough, but she didn't know it was this bad. "So the reason you made you own stealth suit…..."

"Yeah, I'm not allowed in that store," he replied quietly.

"Why didn't you try a Henge?"

"That's how I got the scraps, but why should I have to hide who I am just to go buy stuff?"

"Oh…."

"It's ok, Ten-Chan. I've used Henge before, but I really don't like doing it. I just kinda feel like I'm lying to myself when I do that."

They kept talking as they wandered their way to the training grounds, and the rest of the time passed swiftly. When Anko arrived, they immediately stopped talking, instead deciding to stare at the boxes she was holding. On her left shoulder was a box about five foot long and there were three more boxes in a bundle in her right hand.

When she got to the Genin, she tossed the long box at Naruto, and after setting the bundle down, tossed him the top box as well. The other two were promptly tossed to Tenten.

"Sensei, are these what we think they are?" Tenten asked.

"Yup, Whiskers got a five foot bo staff and two tanto, and you got a katana and a set of nunchaku. Just so you know, though," she said, catching the mischievous looks in their eyes, "These are cheap ones. If you wail on them too hard they will break. I got you these to learn with, not to go hacking away at stuff like a couple of buffoons, got it?"

They both nodded, and then dove into their boxes. What they found only confirmed what Anko had just told them. They definitely weren't top of the line items; that was for sure. That's not to say they were beat up, though. She may not have spent a lot on them, but they were new. It's just….they were plain….and all black…..and had no distinguishing features whatsoever.

"What?" Anko said when the two looked up at her confused.

"Why are they all plain black?"

Anko glared at the two Genin. "You got a problem with it you can give them back and go buy your own."

Naruto and Tenten glanced at each other quickly before blurting out, "No, they're perfectly fine sensei."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, I want you each to pick one of your weapons and prepare to defend yourselves."

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next two weeks were hell for the two Genin. Anko mercilessly pounded on them, all the while teaching them the proper ways to use their weapons. She didn't teach them any complicated forms or strings of motions to go through. She taught them by beating the shit out of them on a daily basis, thus allowing them to figure out on their own what worked and what didn't.

That's not to say she didn't instruct them. She pointed out their flaws as she beat on them. Often, she would have them spar between themselves, while she circled them, often stopping them to correct things that they were doing wrong, or suggesting ways to do things better. If their swings got too wild, she would stop them from killing or maiming each other.

Still, they progressed quickly. By the end of the two weeks Anko determined that they were good enough with their respective weapons to begin carrying them when not training. This was a very good thing, because that morning, as soon as Anko arrived at their designated meeting spot she told them that the Hokage had summoned them.

"What's Jii-Chan want with us now? Oh! Maybe he's gonna give us some kick-ass mission!"

"Hmpf, I doubt it brat. It hasn't been long enough for us to get the good missions."

"Way to be optimistic sensei," Tenten said sarcastically.

"Well, if Jii-Chan gives us another stupid D-rank mission I'm gonna go insane, especially if we have to chase that damned cat again! Next time I find that bastard I'm gonna kill it!"

"Oi brat calm down, do you think you have it bad doing D-ranks, how do you think _I_ feel? I was doing A-rank solo assassination missions before I got saddled with your sorry asses."

"Eh hehehe, sorry sensei," Naruto replied.

The rest of the trip to Sarutobi's office was quiet, and they were admitted as soon as they arrived.

"Oi, Jii-Chan, you got a kick ass mission for us this time, right? Not a stupid D-rank?"

"Dammit brat, what did I just tell you? You're too young for better missions!"

"Actually," the old man replied, "while I do have a mission for you, it isn't a D-rank."

Naruto started bouncing around the room, failing miserably to contain his excitement. "Really," He asked excitedly.

"Yes Naruto. The mission I want to send you on is actually a B-rank."

"Ehh"! Anko sputtered out. "They aren't ready for a _C-rank,_ let alone a B!"

"Relax, Anko. I'm sending your team out to back up team seven, who are escorting a bridge builder back to his home in Wave Country. They ran in to some unexpected opposition and have requested aid."

"Ah!" Anko barked out, cutting Naruto off from agreeing to the mission without hearing all the details. "Describe 'unexpected opposition.'"

"Uh, according to Kakashi's report they were ambushed by the Demon Brothers."

A thoughtful look dropped on Anko as she pondered whether or not to accept the mission. "Hmm, they sent Chunin and they failed," she thought out loud, "so next will be at least one Jounin, or jounin with Chunin, but probably only a Jounin or two…..hmmmm…."

She thought about it for a few more minutes, while her Genin anxiously waited for her answer.

"If we agree to this, and I'm not saying we are yet, how far behind them are we?"

"Only a few hours, I called for your team as soon as I read Kakashi's report. They left yesterday morning."

Anko thought about it some more before asking, "Is there any other information available?"

"Yes, in his report, Kakashi stated that Tazuna, the man they are escorting, mentioned that Wave Country is under the stranglehold of a man named Gato. I think it's safe to assume that the Demon Brothers were hired by him."

"As in **the** billionaire Gato," Anko asked.

"Hai, if you want more info, you'll have to go ask Tazuna himself."

Anko pondered for a few more minutes, before looking the old Hokage directly in the face. "Alright, we'll take it."

The rest of Anko's statement was drowned out by Naruto yelling "YATTA!" at the top of his lungs while he jumped around the room, seemingly oblivious that he would most likely be facing opponents far stronger than he was on this mission.

"Oi, brat SHUT UP," Anko yelled as she bashed him on the head, causing him to fall to the floor and clutch his abused scalp.

She turned back to face the Hokage, who was smiling at the antics before him. "Is there anything else you wanted to add?"

"No, just be careful. If you feel like you're in over your heads, send a message and I will dispatch further reinforcements."

Anko nodded to the old man before turning to the Genin. "Alright, brats, go grab enough shit to last you for two weeks, and then get your asses to the gate. You have one hour or I'm leaving without you!"

"Hai!" they both yelled, before vanishing from the office.

**AN: holy...shit...this chapter took FOREVER to get done, mainly because i havent had time to sit down and write it. i started an accelerated english class a few weeks ago, and it hasnt left me with much time to write (for here, anyway) couple that with major home renovation and trying to find a job, and i havent had much free time at all. im soooooo sorry this one took so long, but it is finally here. next chap sees them off to wave country. (finally). ive had the wave country arc more or less plotted out in my head for like a month and a half, so i should be able to get it up pretty quick. **

**i also have a oneshot song fic (of sorts) that i MIGHT post up sometime during the wave arc. id do it now, but it has a major spoiler in it. anyhow, my beta seems to like it, so once the "spoiler event" occurs, it might go up.**

**EDIT: Fixed some plot errors that were (not so nicely) pointed out to me, mainly the one from the end of chapter 2 where naruto tells kyuubi that he was kicked out of the orphanage. it now correctly reads that jii-chan took him out of there.****  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Storm Ch 13 Edit**

Forty-five minutes after leaving the Hokage's office, Team Anko leapt into the trees outside Konoha's gate.

"Neh, sensei, how long do you think it'll take us to catch up to them?"

"Not long, brat. They have to walk, since they have to escort…..uh…. whatever that guy's name was."

"I think it was Tanzuni or something….. I know it started with T…." Naruto added.

"Ugh, I can't believe you two," Tenten growled, "Team seven is escorting a man named Tazuna."

"See Ten-Chan? I knew it started with a T."

Tenten just hung her head. _'I can't believe them, well maybe Naruto, but sensei too? It's supposed to be HER job to remember this kinda stuff, not mine…' _

She would've kept following that particular line of thought, but she was interrupted when Anko suddenly shoved her.

"Wahhhhhh, what'd you do that for?"

"Well, excuse me for not letting you run into a tree."

"Oh, thank you, sensei."

"Che, just make sure you didn't drop anything."

"Hey! It's Naruto who keeps dropping stuff!"

Since they had left the village gates, Naruto had to stop almost a dozen times to pick up various bits of his equipment that had fallen off. Most of the time it was his bow, which only made Tenten make fun if it more, since he couldn't even seem to carry it properly.

Naruto's staff wasn't traveling well either. It was five feet long, and he had no way to shrink it down, and it was too long to strap to his body.

The two tanto knives he had were giving the least trouble, as they were crossed on his back, with the handles over his shoulders. A quiver of arrows hung over them, and his bow hung from the quiver.

Tenten wasn't having any real problems with her weapons. She had attached her katana to her left hip, and had the nunchaku in a holder on her back. She also had close to a hundred each of kunai and shuriken hidden in various places in her clothes.

When she had mentioned this fact to Naruto, he first expressed shock that she carried so damn many. This lasted until his brain managed to wrap itself around her carrying so many sharp things, and he began to doubt that she could physically carry that many weapons without them being noticeable.

His doubt was promptly killed as Tenten pulled out one hundred and three kunai, as well as one hundred and seven shuriken. It took him almost five full minutes to be able to speak again, and a further ten minutes before he could form a complete sentence.

Naruto, of course, had thought he was carrying a lot, since he had thirty of each spread around his clothes.

He had immediately asked Anko, who replied that while a hundred of each seemed excessive, (even for her) she normally carried around fifty of each in her trench coat.

Naruto had been pouting all the way until Tenten almost crashed into the tree.

Seeing that had pulled him out of his mini-depression and he started laughing at Tenten. When she heard him laughing, she just chucked a kunai at him, and while it didn't hit him, it did cause his bow to fall again.

Xxxxxxxxxx

They continued on for another hour or so, until Anko signaled them to drop to the road they had been traveling next to.

After they all landed in the road, Naruto spoke up, "Neh, why did we stop here?"

"We've almost caught up to Kakashi. We're only a few miles from them, and we're gonna take the road until we get to them."

"Why? The trees would be faster."

"Because, brat, if we take the trees and just appear next to them, his brats will probably freak out and try to attack you."

"Awww let them try. I can take the teme any day of the week."

Anko just raised an eyebrow, not knowing who Naruto was talking about.

Tenten was the only one who noticed it, and replied, "That would be Uchiha Sasuke. I don't really know why, but Naruto calls him teme."

"I call him teme because that's what he is. Besides, even if teme, buru-bo-i and Sakura all ganged up on me, I could still kick their asses."

Anko's eyebrow went up higher. "Buru-bo-i? What in the hell made him decide to name someone gay"?

"Ugh. It's Sai. Naruto calls him buru-bo-i (homosexual) because Sai has a fixation on talking about p….pe…..you know…boy parts."

Anko just laughed at them both; Naruto for his immature nicknames, and at Tenten for being unable to say "penis," even though she was only thirteen.

Getting her laughter under control, Anko took off down the road towards Kakashi and his team.

Xxxxxxxxxx

They may not have been tree-hopping anymore, but they were still going pretty fast, compared to Kakashi and his group, who had to travel at civilian speed.

When they got close enough, Anko sent out a small snake to warn Kakashi of their approach. It returned quickly, and they began to walk up to Kakashi's camp.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi wasn't really enjoying this mission, nor was he really enjoying this team. When he had agreed to take a Genin team this year, he had asked for a combat team. What he got was anything but.

Combat teams are designed to be front line fighters. They need to have relatively large chakra reserves and passably decent control over them, Jutsu that worked against single enemies as well as large groups, and be capable at some form of Taijutsu. Being able to work together was a must, as combat teams by nature didn't fall back or retreat unless they absolutely had to.

The only one of his Genin that was even close to that was Sasuke, and even he wasn't a very good match. Sasuke had a relatively large amount of chakra for his age, but only average control over it. His Taijutsu was the best out of the three, but it was still lacking, since he hadn't activated his Sharingan yet. His teamwork abilities were also borderline nonexistent, since all he cared about was avenging his clan.

Sai wasn't a bad ninja; he just didn't fit the kind of team he wanted. Sai's skills lay in mid to long range combat and support. He didn't have any heavy-hitting Jutsu, only had average reserves, and average control. His Taijutsu wasn't anything to write home about. His personality didn't help him either. He either ignored the others, or made crude jokes at their expense.

Sakura, though, was a complete mess. Given a little time, and some properly structured lessons, both Sai and Sasuke could be molded into members of a combat team. Sakura could not. Her chakra reserves were so small as to be almost worthless. Her Taijutsu was so bad that she would be lucky to beat a four year old, and besides Henge, Kawarimi, and Bushin, she had no techniques at all. All of her attention and time was devoted to trying to impress Sasuke, who she obviously didn't realize didn't care about her.

Kakashi was beyond shocked when they managed to pass his bell test, although he still wasn't sure how they pulled it off.

He had asked for a combat team, and got himself a banshee, a brooder, and … well, …..whatever classification Sai fell into.

After the Demon Brothers attacked, (which part of him couldn't believe they lived through) he knew that they would face stronger opponents, and had sent for reinforcements from Konoha.

He had immediately recognized the snake as Anko's, but wondered why her team had been sent. He'd honestly expected a team of Chunin to come, not a Tokujo and two more Genin.

"Oi, mina, our backup has arrived."

His group all turned to face him, not realizing that he had called for more people.

Seeing their looks, he said, "After the Demon Brothers failed to kill Tazuna-san, I came to the conclusion that Gato will try again, and that this time he will send at least one jounin-level ninja to do it, and you three aren't ready for that level of fight."

"I am an Uchiha. A jounin won't be a problem," Sasuke grumbled out.

He would've kept talking, but the sudden appearance of a kunai against his neck made him shut up.

"Well, now, how about that? I could've just killed you, and I'm only a Tokujo. What do you say to that, brat?" a voice said in his ear.

Kakashi barely glanced up from his book, "Hello Mitarashi-san. Would you please unhand my student now?"

"Awww, but terrorizing the brats is so much fun…"

"Speaking of which, where are yours?"

Anko just pointed behind her, and Naruto and Tenten emerged from the bushes. Once they were plainly visible, Anko put her kunai away.

Sasuke glared at them, "Why are you here, dobe?"

Naruto glared right back, before smirking at him, and flung his staff across his shoulders, resting his arms on it, "Because Kakashi and Jii-Chan don't think you're good enough to do this by yourself."

This just caused Sasuke to glare harder. Just as he was about to open his mouth and insult Naruto some more, Kakashi said, "That's enough, Sasuke."

That just made Sasuke return to glaring at Kakashi.

Sakura, meanwhile, had been poking fun at Naruto's weapons.

"Nice stick. What're you gonna do with it? Build a tent?"

"Ha ha. It's not a stick. It's a staff."

Sai elected to remain silent for once. He knew the value of a good weapon, as he himself carried a ninjato.

He listened to Sakura poke fun at Naruto and Tenten for a while until he decided to see it they were capable with their weapons. Sakura apparently hadn't noticed it yet, but Naruto also had what looked like short swords on his back.

"Dickless, are you any good with your weapons?"

Naruto stared at him for a moment, until he gave the response that Anko had drilled into them. "I'm good enough."

"I would like to have a quick spar with you, if that's alright," he said, looking at Naruto, Kakashi, and Anko in turn.

Naruto looked at Anko, who just shrugged, and then at Kakashi, who said, "Keep it light. I don't want to have to carry you if you get hurt."

"That's fine. Well?" Sai said, turning back to Naruto.

Naruto just slid into a stance with his staff, eyeing the handle of Sai's ninjato.

"I do not wish to fight your staff."

Naruto just stood out of his stance, before tossing his staff to Anko. He then reached over his shoulders, and pulled his tanto free of their sheaths, before settling back down into a stance.

Sai eyed him for a few moments, as he slowly pulled his weapon out. Each of them could tell that the other was at least passingly familiar with their weapons of choice, and didn't just have them for show.

Before Sai got his ninjato all the way out of its sheath, which he wore behind his left shoulder, he charged at Naruto, and as he got in range, he brought it down towards the top of Naruto's head. Naruto responded by ducking, and brought his own blades up to defend, catching Sai's blade with his own.

Naruto held that position only for an instant, before he pushed Sai's blade off to the side, and lunged at him. Naruto's shoulder caught Sai in the chest, but instead of falling over, Sai went with the charge, and back flipped once to remain standing.

They eyed each other for a few moments, and then Naruto switched his grip, so that the blades of his tanto went down, and he charged at Sai. He managed to keep Sai on the defensive, not quite slashing wildly, but there was no apparent style behind his movements. Naruto also didn't stay in one place very long, if at all, and spun and jumped a lot, frequently attacking from odd angles.

This went on for a short while, until Sai managed a block that left Naruto open to Sai's left fist, and Sai punched him in the jaw, sending Naruto stumbling back a few feet.

Naruto quickly recovered, but before he could resume attacking Sai decided that he'd had enough.

"Thank you. You seem to be able to handle yourself fairly well for a beginner. How long have you been practicing with them?"

Naruto thought for a minute, trying to find an insult in what Sai had said. Eventually determining there wasn't one, he replied, "Two weeks."

This surprised Sai greatly. There were still obvious skills that Naruto lacked, but for only two weeks of instruction, Naruto was doing remarkably well.

"What style do you use?"

"Huh?"

"Most people who use weapons use them in a particular way, called a style," Anko cut in. "It's usually the same style as the person who taught you. Anyway, Naruto and Tenten don't use any particular style, since I haven't had time to teach them one yet. The two weeks were spent in combat, getting them familiar with their weapons. They may not get the advantage from adhering to a particular style, but they will become far more unpredictable that way."

Seeing Naruto display a set of skills that Sasuke lacked made him furious. Kakashi wasn't teaching them anything. All he usually did, (once he decided to actually bother to show up) was tell them to spar with each other. The 'missions' they did were pointless. There was no way in hell Itachi got as strong as he did painting fences, delivering groceries, and chasing cats around the village.

Sakura was in shock. She couldn't believe that Naruto had gotten so good. Sai had never really talked much about it, but he had been using that ninjato for a few years now. For him to comment that Naruto was good at using his tanto was the most out of character thing she'd ever heard him say. Even stranger was the fact that he meant it, and that there wasn't any insult in the same sentence.

**AN: well, wave is underway. for those of you who think sai is ooc, i agree with you. i also believe, though, that since he hasnt been under the "care" of danzo for as long as he has been in canon, if i decide to make him a danzo underling, that he hasnt had all of his emotions stripped away yet.**

**anyway, there is some real violence next chapter, as well as someone (of the leaf) suffering permanent bodily harm in wave. i wont say who yet, but it is a necessary sacrifice for my story.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Storm Ch 14**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  
**

Despite getting odd looks from Sakura, Sai just sat back down after the spar, not saying anything. Naruto stared at him for a minute, before sitting down next to Tenten.

He leaned next to her, and whispered, "That was weird."

"What? The fact that he wanted to fight you?" she whispered back.

"No. He didn't insult me during the fight."

Tenten thought about it for a second, "Wow….. You're right."

They were interrupted when they noticed that Anko was asking Kakashi about the mission so far. They listened quietly while the masked jounin told them about their meeting with Tazuna, the encounter with the Demon Brothers, and Tazuna's story.

Naruto, Tenten, and Anko were all surprised by the story, especially how well Sasuke and Sai fought the Demon Brothers.

Anko and Kakashi then began to talk about things that were way over the Genins heads, so Tazuna went to bed, and Naruto wandered a short ways off to practice with his bow. Tenten and Sakura followed after him.

"So, Naruto-baka, why do you have a samurai weapon? Are kunai and shuriken not good enough for you?"

Naruto just glared at Sakura, "I have nothing against kunai or shuriken. It just so happens that I can do more with a bow than I can with standard thrown weapons."

Sakura didn't look convinced, so Naruto decided to show her instead. He pulled out a kunai, and threw it into a tree.

"Alright," he then said, "I would like for you and Ten-Chan to each throw a kunai at that tree as hard as you can."

Sakura looked confused, but Tenten just whipped a kunai at the same tree, burying it halfway to the handle. Naruto and Tenten both motioned her to hurry up, so the pinkette took out a kunai of her own and launched it at the tree a hard as she could, and managed to get it to sink into the tree about half an inch.

"Ok," Naruto said as he walked up to the three kunai in the tree, "We can all see that Ten-Chan is the best at kunai. Yours went in a half inch, mine went in one inch, and Ten-Chan's went in three inches. You injured your target, Sakura, I might have killed my target if it hit in the right spot, and Ten-Chan definitely got a kill. Now, I'm going to show you what I can do with my bow."

Naruto and the two girls then walked back to where they had thrown the knives from, and Naruto pulled his bow off his back. He handed it to Tenten, did some quick stretches, and then took his bow back. He then fished around in his quiver for a second, before withdrawing a single arrow.

The arrow had a black shaft, and the head and feathers were a dark green. He set the arrow to the string, and took a deep breath, before raising it up and pulling the string back to full draw. He held it for only a second, before he released the string. It gave a sharp twang, and the arrow sped towards the tree faster than Sakura could see.

Naruto released his held breath, and returned his bow to its position on his back. He calmly walked up to the tree, and tried to pull his arrow out of the tree. He immediately realized it was hopeless, so he just snapped it off where the shaft met the bark. He pulled a whole arrow out and held it up next to the broken one.

"See, Sakura? I got the arrow to go nine inches into that tree. If it were a person, it would probably be able to go through two or three people at this distance. That amount of power also provides extreme range. I can hit targets with a bow two to three times farther away than I can with a kunai, with less effort."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto and Tenten had gone to bed soon after their demonstration, and were up early the next morning. They quickly completed their morning tasks, and got back on the road.

The trek during the morning was entirely uneventful, with the only highlights being Tazuna's comments about the Genin.

They didn't stop to eat lunch, deciding instead to eat while they walked, since Tazuna said he wasn't tired, and wanted to hurry home.

It wasn't until the end of lunch that things got interesting. Naruto was halfway through a cardboard flavored ration bar when he suddenly flung it into a bush, his other hand bringing his staff in front of him, as he fell into a defensive stance.

"What the hell was that, Naruto-baka?" Sakura yelled out.

"I heard something moving in the bushes," he replied, casting his eyes about for the source of the noise.

Sai cautiously approached the bushes, and peeked behind them. Once he saw what Naruto had thrown his ration bar at, he calmly picked up a severely startled rabbit.

"This is your enemy, dickless."

Tenten just sweatdropped, and Sakura started to yell at Naruto some more for scaring the poor helpless bunny.

Anko, however, wasn't paying attention to what Sakura was screaming about.

"Kakashi, its summer, and that rabbit is white…."

His visible eye widened, "That means…..EVERYONE DOWN!"

Anko and the Genin hit the ground, with Naruto pulling Sakura down with him, while Kakashi grabbed Tazuna. Just as they got out of its way, a giant sword went hurtling through the space the Genins necks had just been occupying, before it embedded itself in a tree.

A man then appeared on the handle of the massive blade, staring down at them. He had slashed Mist headband on, with the plate over his left ear. His lower face was wrapped in bandages, and he had no shirt on, just some straps that were probably used to carry his massive sword. He had arm coverings on that were similar to Sasuke's, but with a white camouflage design. He wore camouflaged gray pants and gray sandals, with his ankles wrapped in more of the white camo fabric.

"Ah. Momochi Zabuza. One of the old Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village" Kakashi stated as he turned to face the new arrival. "I want you all to stay here and guard Tazuna. Zabuza is on a far different level than who we faced earlier. That is the teamwork for this situation," he told the Genin, as he brought his left hand up to his forehead protector. "I am going to have to go all out against him."

"Oh? You must be Sharingan no Kakashi," Zabuza said.

This confused the Genin, since all of them except for Sakura knew that the Sharingan was Uchiha-only, and Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha. Sasuke of course was pissed, since a non-Uchiha shouldn't be allowed to have the almighty Sharingan.

"I'm here to kill the old man," Zabuza continued, "Honestly I don't care about you Konoha nins, so if you let me do in the old man, you all can leave."

Kakashi just finished pushing his headband up, and while keeping his left eye closed, said, "I'm sorry, but we can't do that. We were hired to protect him, and it would reflect poorly on us if we just let you kill him without putting up a fight. I'm sure you can understand." As soon as he finished, he opened his eye, revealing a fully mature three-tomoe Sharingan.

"Oh? I'm honored that you show me the Sharingan right off the bat. It won't help you though," Zabuza replied.

"Eh? What's with Kakashi-sensei's eye?" Sakura asked.

"That is the Sharingan," Anko replied quietly. "It is the bloodline of the Uchiha's, and it allows the user to both predict and copy an enemy's movements, even allowing them to copy Jutsu that is used in front of them."

While Anko had been describing the Sharingan, Kakashi and Zabuza had continued talking, and Zabuza had grabbed his sword and leapt onto the surface of the near by river.

"Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu," Zabuza said, as an unnaturally thick mist began to surround them. It was so thick, that the Genin could barely see each other, and they were in touching distance.

Naruto and the other Genin peered around in the mist, trying vainly to see where Zabuza, Kakashi, and Anko had disappeared to.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, heart, a strike at any of these points is lethal. Now, which one will I use today?" Zabuza said while hidden.

The Genin all froze, never having experienced killing intent like they were right then. None of them could move, because it was so intense. It didn't last long though, as the killing intent all but vanished one of the sources moved.

Suddenly realizing that Zabuza was behind him, Naruto flung his tanto into a hasty defense, while he shoved Tenten, who was standing next to him, out of the path of the blade. He succeeded in getting her out of the path of the blade, and Zabuza's massive cleaver came into contact with Naruto's cheap tanto.

Naruto tried valiantly to hold back the massive cleaver, but his cheap training blades proved no match for the giant weapon bearing down on him. Zabuza's cleaver sliced through Naruto's blades like they weren't even there.

Suddenly, all background noise ceased, as far as those present were concerned. Tenten would remember it vividly for the rest of her life. She distinctly heard the slight shriek of Naruto's blades being destroyed, the clang as the severed blade ends hit the rocky ground, and a wet, fleshy thump as something else landed in the road.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed out as he fell to his knees, his right hand wrapped around the bleeding stump where his left hand used to be.

When Zabuza had cut through Naruto's knives, he also cut his left hand off at the wrist.

Tenten looked down at Naruto, and saw him cradling his left arm. She then noticed his left hand lying in the dust, the remains of his knife still held tightly in its grasp.

"NARUTOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed out, before ripping her katana out of its sheath, and hacking wildly at the missing-nin. Zabuza just smirked under his face wraps, and allowed her to drive him back a few feet, before he viciously back handed her with his left hand, sending her flying several feet, and into unconsciousness.

Realizing where their target was, Kakashi and Anko charged the missing-nin, and engaged him in a flurry of Taijutsu strikes. They managed to push him a little farther away from the Genin before Zabuza found enough room to swing his massive sword, causing both of his opponents to flip out of the way, lest they be chopped in half at the waist.

Kakashi used the momentary lull in the battle to reveal his left eye, the three tomoe of his Sharingan spinning wildly.

Anko used the time to look over at the Genin, and her body froze for a second when she realized that Naruto's hand was no longer attached to his arm. She then noticed that Sakura was in a shock induced stupor. Sasuke was also in shock, but seemed at least mildly aware of his environment, and Sai was helping Naruto try and stop the blood pouring out of his wrist.

For the first time in her life, she was tempted to use the power of her curse seal, but managed to fight back the urge. Instead, she launched two kunai at the charging missing-nin, which were immediately followed by three large snakes from each of her sleeves.

Zabuza managed to dodge the kunai, and chop the heads off two of he snakes, but the remaining four snakes wrapped themselves around his chest and sunk their fangs into his upper arms. They weren't poisonous, but being bitten by four snakes at the same time still hurts like hell.

The snakes began to constrict, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Kakashi charged the restrained enemy, but right as he was about to stab Zabuza in the head, he realized that water was coming out of the snakes' mouths. He rammed his kunai through the mizu bunshins head anyway, and watched as it splashed into a puddle.

Kakashi and Anko both frantically looked for wherever Zabuza disappeared to, but did not locate him in time from slamming Kakashi in the chest with the flat of his sword, launching him into the nearby river. A quick throw from Anko revealed this to be another clone.

Kakashi quickly returned to the surface of the river, and as soon as his head broke the surface, he realized he was caught. The water swirled up around him, trapping him in Zabuza's water prison. He was about to yell at Anko to run, but when he saw the look in her eyes, he realized that it would just be a waste of his precious air.

Anko had leveled a glare at Zabuza that would make kage wet themselves. She didn't always show it, but she cared greatly for her two brats, and the man she was glaring at had most likely just ended Naruto's ninja career, and possibly killed Tenten. She hadn't told them, but they were among the only people to know her whole history, and the only other people who knew the whole story was Sarutobi, Ibiki, and Inoichi.

Anko pulled out a few senbon from some inner pocket of her trench coat, and then performed an action that just about made Kakashi's eyes fall out.

She buttoned her trench coat closed.

Never, in his entire career as a shinobi, had Kakashi seen Anko close her coat. He had only even heard of it happening once, and the results weren't pretty.

He watched Anko distribute the needles to her other hand, and then noticed that she was gathering her chakra. She was gathering so much, that Kakashi could see it with both of his eyes.

It wasn't the normal blue either. The chakra swirling around Anko was a sickly color between purple and black, and it had an ominous feel to it.

At first, it pooled around her feet, lazily circling her ankles. A few seconds later, though, and it was whipping around her so fast that it ripped her hair tie off of her head, allowing her shoulder-length purple hair to whip around in the windstorm of chakra she had encased herself in.

She held the chakra storm for about twenty seconds, and then seemingly vanished. She appeared in the same spot moments later, having destroyed all of Zabuza's clones that were hiding in the mist.

Zabuza looked impressed by the display of speed, but wasn't scared or anything. His eyes suddenly widened though, as Anko hurled both handfuls of senbon at him, and they were traveling extremely fast.

Zabuza had no choice but to release Kakashi from the water prison and try and dodge the needles, but he still took three in his left arm, immobilizing it completely. This did surprise him, since he couldn't effectively use his giant sword with only one hand.

Kakashi, of course, had immediately retreated to dry land as soon as he was free of the water prison, and rapidly began forming hand seals. Taking advantage of Zabuza's momentary lapse in concentration, he launched a water dragon at him.

Zabuza heard Kakashi call out the water dragon, and looked over at it just as it hit him, launching him through a few trees, and away from his sword, which was flung somewhere into the woods.

He was just about to charge back at them, when he was suddenly hit in the neck with another set of needles, and he collapsed into a heap.

"Wow. He really did die…" a voice said.

Kakashi looked over and saw a Mist hunter-nin on a tree branch. He eyed he masked nin for a few seconds, and then jumped over to Zabuza's body, checking for a pulse. When he found none, he quietly exclaimed, "Huh. He really _did_ die…"

Kakashi looked back up at the hunter-nin, who bowed slightly to him. "Thank you. I have been waiting for an opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time. He is beyond my level, and I hadn't found an opening prior to this." The nin then shunshin'd down to Zabuza's body. "If you'll excuse me, I have to dispose of this body." The nin then picked up Zabuza's body, and shunshin'd away.

As soon as the hunter-nin took off with Zabuza's corpse, Anko and Kakashi rushed over to the Genin. Anko quickly checked Tenten while Kakashi checked Naruto.

Anko was able to get a response out of Tenten, but wasn't able to wake her up.

Kakashi, however, had much worse news. The way Naruto's hand had been severed did not allow for reattachment. Naruto and Sai had managed to stop most of the bleeding, so Kakashi assisted with that instead. It was then that he noticed a slight bit of red chakra surrounding the wound, and it seemed to be helping close it.

Anko came over, and Kakashi just shook his head.

"He will live, though, right?" she asked quietly, as she helped Kakashi bind Naruto's arm to his chest.

"Yeah, he's going to live," Kakashi replied, "But his hand is done for. The way it was severed won't allow for a successful reattachment. I sedated him too, so he'll be out of it for a while."

Anko just hung her head. "Oi, Tazuna, how far is your house from here?"

"Huh? Oh,….. j-just a few miles," he replied, after he came out of shock a little bit.

Kakashi sealed Naruto's hand into a scroll, and then moved on to bringing Sakura and Sasuke out of their stupors. Tenten was picked up by Anko, and Kakashi picked up Naruto once his Genin were moving.

The trip to Tazuna's house was quiet, since all the Genin were either still mostly in shock, or borderline unconscious. When they got there, Tazuna knocked on the door quietly, and it was opened by a younger woman.

"Yes? Oh! I'm glad you made it back!" she yelled out, flinging her arms around Tazuna.

"This is my daughter, Tsunami," he told the ninja. He then whispered into her ear, "Send Inari to his room. There are things he doesn't need to see."

Tsunami looked at him confused, but quickly ushered her son to his room. It wasn't until she returned that she noticed one of the younger ninja had a slightly bloody bandage around where his left hand should be.

"Oh my!" she gasped out, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Anko looked at Kakashi for a moment, and then Kakashi said, "Just a bowl of clean water and some privacy, as well as any bandages if you have them."

"Of course, Tou-san, can you take the others to the living room?"

Tazuna just nodded, and they all went into the house.

**AN: before any of you complain that i just ruined naruto, relax. it was not done on a whim; i have been planning on chopping his hand off since i began planning this fic. his career isnt over, and he will find ways around not having his left hand anymore. fear not, it is all going according to plan.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Storm ch 15 edit**

Once in the kitchen, Tsunami quickly gathered the asked for supplies, before Kakashi and Anko motioned her out of the room. Realizing that they were going to re-bandage Naruto's stump, she quickly left.

Anko set Tenten down in a chair, and quickly cleaned the table off. Kakashi set Naruto down on the table, and removed the bindings holding his arm against his chest. He then lifted his headband, once again exposing his Sharingan, and activated one of the few medical Jutsu he had picked up over the years, this one from his old teammate Rin.

He held his green glowing hand near Naruto's wrist, and Anko began to remove the bandages. Once they were all off, they inspected Naruto's stump. It was quiet clean, as Sai had evidently done a good job of removing any debris when he was first helping Naruto.

Another thing that surprised them was the degree that Naruto's arm had healed already. Kakashi briefly stopped his Jutsu, and Naruto's arm barely bled at all. He noticed Anko's shocked look, and quietly began to explain what he was seeing with his Sharingan.

"It's the fox," he said quietly, "I noticed some of its chakra before, and it seems to be healing him. I believe that the fox is also responsible for healing him after the incident when he was seven."

"What really happened? I know the gist of it, but what really went on?"

Kakashi stayed silent for a few minutes, until he asked, "What do you know?"

"Well, I know that some nins broke into his apartment and set him on fire, since the brat told me that much. I was showing him the academy fire technique, and he had a bad reaction to it. Other than that, all I've heard are rumors."

"It wasn't nins," Kakashi replied, "Not at first, at least. It was the villagers that started the attack. They broke into his apartment and beat him up. They didn't stop there, though. They somehow got a hold of a kunai, most likely one of Naruto's, and cut him up with it. It's not my place to tell you the details, but it was really bad. Anyway, a couple Chunin noticed, and went to investigate. When they realized that the villagers were attacking the so called 'demon child' they joined in, and beat him up some more. One of them then lit the apartment, and Naruto, on fire with that Jutsu, and then retreated to wait for it to burn itself out, before pretending to play heroes and trying to rescue him."

Anko was in complete shock.

"It gets worse, though. Naruto had passed out at some point during the attack, and came into contact with the fox while he was unconscious. Which one of them acted next is unclear, but one of them took control of his body, crawled over to the window, and jumped out of it. It was shocking enough that he was still alive, but to find him still breathing after falling out of a fourth story window was beyond comprehension."

Anko just collapsed into a chair. She knew the attack had been bad, but had no idea that it was _that_ bad. While she was trying to come to terms with that, though, Tenten began to stir.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh," Tenten mumbled out, as she began to wake up.

Kakashi went over to her, and began a simple diagnostic Jutsu, while Anko talked to her.

"Hey, how do you feel?"

"Ughhhhhh, like someone dropped the academy on my head…" she mumbled back out, while gingerly bringing her hands up to her head.

Anko looked up at Kakashi, who told her, "She should be fine in a little while. She had a minor concussion, but most of the swelling is gone already."

Anko took a deep breath and let it out quickly.

"Sensei," Tenten asked.

"What?"

"How's Naruto?"

"Well…." Anko said, unsure of how to tell her about what happened.

"He's not dead, if that's what you're wondering," Kakashi added.

"So he's ok then?" Tenten asked.

"Not really. Zabuza….. well, he cut Naruto's hand off, and it can't be put back on. He…. He may have to stop being a ninja," Anko said quietly.

Tenten started crying, and Anko put her arms around her in a rather awkward hug, since she wasn't really used to doing this kind of thing.

"Shhh," she whispered to Tenten, "It's not your fault. You did everything just the way you were supposed to."

Kakashi put his hand on Tenten's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry I'm sure Naruto will be fine. This won't keep him down for long."

Anko then resumed talking to Tenten, and Kakashi took the still unconscious Naruto to one of the house's guest rooms, and then went to talk to his team about what happened.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto had passed out soon after he collapsed, and found himself in his mind, right in front of the cage.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"**What just happened?"**

"My hand," Naruto yelled, waving his stump around.

"**Grr, damn it, hold still!" **the fox yelled out, causing Naruto to immediately cease moving. **"Now, what happened to your hand?"**

"The guy with the sword, Zabuza, c…. he cut my hand off….."

Kyuubi's eyes widened. She did a quick scan of Naruto's body, and found that not only had his hand been cut off, but that he would bleed to death long before they got back to the village. She quickly sent some of her chakra to the wound, and used it to halt the bleeding.

"**Alright, I've slowed the bleeding down. You won't bleed to death anymore."**

"So what do I do now?" he asked.

"**Well, I don't really know. Had it been severed differently I could probably put it back on, but with the way it was cut, I can't."**

"What?"

"**You will only have one hand for the rest of your life."**

"WHAT? How am I gonna be a ninja with only one hand?"

"**Oh, you can get another hand, but it won't be yours. They make artificial hands for people like you."**

"They do?"

"**Yes. I do not know how they control them, but they function just like a regular hand does, as far as I have noticed. When you get back to Konoha, talk to the old man."**

"You mean Jii-Chan? Ok. But what do I do until then?"

"**I do not know. As soon as you get ready for one of the artificial ones, I will fix your arm so that you will get the most benefit out of it. Until then, I will keep some of my chakra there so that you will not feel pain, especially if you were to bump into something with it."**

"But won't Kakashi and Anko-sensei be able to sense the chakra?"

"**Possibly, if Inu asks about it, you should probably tell him about me. I don't think he really knows much yet. Anyway, you need to rest now. Inu drugged you after the battle, so you won't wake up until morning."**

"Where did he take me?"

"**From what I have been able to gather, we are at the home of the old drunk."**

"Oh…. Ok."

"**Sleep now. You need to rest."**

Xxxxxxxxxx

As soon as Kakashi walked into the living room, Sakura assaulted him with questions.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on? Where are Naruto and Tenten? What's up with your eye? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Sakura, shut up," Kakashi sighed out, preventing her from asking more questions. He dropped himself into a chair, before continuing. "Naruto and Tenten are in the kitchen right now. Tenten is waking up, and Mitarashi-san is finishing up bandaging Naruto's…arm. As to my eye, it was a gift….from a friend….."

"Is Naruto going to be ok?"

"I don't know Sakura. It's too early to tell. Provided it doesn't get infected or anything, Naruto will live, but whether or not he remains a shinobi won't be determined until we get back to the village."

xxxxxxxxxx

Sakura had asked a few more questions that night, but Tsunami soon showed them to their rooms, and they all went to bed, with Sakura in one room, Sasuke and Sai in another, and Naruto and Tenten in with the sensei's, so they could be watched over.

The next morning, Kakashi, despite suffering from moderate chakra exhaustion, took his team out into the woods for training, and left Anko with hers to recover and watch the house. Once he had his team going, Kakashi watched over Tazuna at the bridge.

Tenten woke long before Naruto did, and she and Anko talked quietly for a while, mainly about Naruto's situation. When he finally did wake up, it was almost noon.

"Oi, brat, it's about time you woke up."

"Uh Sensei, where are we?" he asked, still fighting the effects of the medication.

"We're at Tazuna's house. More importantly, how are you?"

He was silent for a while, "Ok, I guess."

"Well, don't let it get you too down brat. They make things just for people who lose limbs so they can keep functioning. Hell, there are Suna nins who do that intentionally."

"Really," he asked.

"Uh huh, I don't really know much about how they work, but the replacement limbs function just like normal ones, so once you get used to it, you shouldn't have any problem staying a ninja."

Naruto just let out a huge sigh of relief. He didn't really have any other skills he could support himself with if he wasn't a ninja, especially if he only had one hand.

He put his right hand against his stomach and said quietly, "She's helping too."

Anko raised an eyebrow, and Tenten asked, "What do you mean?"

"She's keeping some of her chakra in my arm to keep out infection and to lessen any pain I feel if I bump into it or something. I just wanted to tell you in case you sensed her chakra."

"Hmm, I can't feel it, and Kakashi didn't say anything this morning, so he either didn't notice, or doesn't think it's dangerous, but I'll tell him when he gets back tonight."

Naruto propped himself up, and finally got a good look at Tenten. Her right cheek was swollen, and she had a black eye. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Zabuza hit me," she replied quietly.

"Eh? Are you ok?" he asked, already ignoring the fact that he was far more wounded than she was.

"I'll be fine. I just have to wait a little while for the swelling to go down."

By mid-afternoon, both Genin were out of bed and moving, and Anko already had them training again. Anko and Tenten were working on some strategy exercises, and Naruto was trying to figure out how much his chakra control had fallen with the loss of his hand, since he couldn't really form seals anymore.

The results weren't promising. His control had dropped by almost a third, which for someone who didn't have the greatest control to begin with, was a pretty serious problem. He could still perform Jutsu; it just took more chakra, since he couldn't mold it properly. He knew that most jounin got to the point that they could do many of the simpler Jutsu without hand seals, as they had memorized the way the chakra had to be molded, and could do that in their head.

Naruto just decided that he would have to train himself to do the same thing, just as a Genin. He also realized that he might not be able to continue to train with his current set of weapons, since bows and staffs require two hands to operate.

'_Oh well, I'll worry about that later, I guess. Right now I have to figure out how to mold my chakra without hand seals.'_

Trying to figure out just how bad his control was, he tried to walk up the wall, a skill Anko had taught him and Tenten months ago.

Before leaving for wave, he had gotten to the point where standing on a wall was almost second nature, and only required a minimum of concentration.

Now though, he could barely do anything else. It took almost all of his attention just to stay on the wall, and all of it to move.

"Oi brat, feeling better already?" Anko asked looking up from the exercise she was running with Tenten.

Naruto turned to answer her, but his focus was split enough to cause him to fall off the wall, landing face-first on Tenten's bed.

He eventually moved to a sitting position, and said, "Not really. I can't even walk on the damn wall anymore."

Seeing Naruto's depressed look, Anko said, "Eh, don't let it get to ya. Once we get back to the village we'll get you all straightened out. Anyway, get over here, and tell me what you would do in this situation."

Naruto hoisted himself off the bed, and went over to see what Anko was showing him. He looked at the scenario for a second, and then just said "Run," shocking both of the girls.

"What? Why would you run?"

Naruto just glared at Anko for a second, before motioning to his missing hand.

"Oh, right. Uhh, ok, tell me what you would do if that hadn't of happened."

"Well, I'd probably…"


	16. Chapter 16

**Storm Ch 16  
**

The next day, Tenten continued strategy with Anko, while they guarded the house, Kakashi watched Tazuna at the bridge, and Naruto went out to train with Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai. Much to his shock, they were JUST learning to tree walk.

"Naruto-baka, what are you doing here?" Sakura yelled out when she noticed that Naruto had followed them.

"I'm training," he replied sarcastically.

Sasuke just blew them off as he began to run up the tree, and he marked it with his kunai right before he fell off. He had made it about thirty feet up the trunk.

Sai was near the sixty foot mark, but couldn't make very many repetitions before he had to rest.

Naruto and Sakura argued for a few more minutes, and then she proceeded to walk all the way up one of the hundred foot tall trees, before walking back down to the ground. She had barely made it off the tree when she basically collapsed into a heap, trying to catch her breath.

Naruto gathered quite a bit of information on team seven just then. Sasuke had the worst control, and probably the most chakra. Sai was average in both, and Sakura had near perfect control, but almost no chakra.

This realization made him chuckle slightly, earning him the wrath of Sakura.

"What's so funny? I bet you can't do this any better than we can!"

"You're right, right now I probably can't do this any better than you can. Losing my hand really threw my control outta whack. Before this mission, though, I could do that in my sleep."

"Eh," Sakura yelled out, and Sasuke covertly began to listen to them.

"Yeah, Anko-sensei taught us this like three months ago. She was about to teach us water walking too. Just have Tenten show you, she was just a little ahead of me in the tree walking."

"How good were you?" Sai asked, joining the conversation.

"Well, I could walk up and down the tree all day, I could stand under branches, and I could hang by my feet, hands, and back, and could even do light-contact sparring on the side of a tree."

"Hn, yeah right dobe." Sasuke stated.

"Just you watch teme," Naruto said, as he pulled his right hand into a focus sign, trying to get whatever help he could in taming his enormous reserves of chakra. He walked up to a tree, and placed one foot on it, and allowed himself to get accustomed to the tree's chakra flow. Once he thought he was used to it enough, he brought his other foot onto the tree, and began to slowly walk up its surface. He had to stop several times when his grip began to falter, but after about fifteen minutes, made it to the top of the tree.

Ten minutes later, he made it to the bottom. As soon as he stepped off the tree, Sakura yelled out, "So what? I can do that a hell of a lot faster than you can!"

"Sakura, you can barely make it up and down once. I can do this all day and not even break a sweat. The only reason your chakra control is so good is because you have so little to control. My control is probably the worst in the village, because I have so much of it."

Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes narrowing. "Yeah, teme, I got more chakra than you, buru-bo-i, and Sakura combined.

"What?"

"Yup, did Kakashi give you the test to see how much chakra you have?" They all shook their heads no. "Uhh, what _has_ he taught you so far?"

The other Genin just looked at him blankly for a few seconds, until Sakura said, "This, and….teamwork…I guess."

Naruto just stood there in shock. Once he got control of his faculties again, he immediately turned back towards Tazuna's house, yelling, "Stay here! I'm gonna go get Anko-sensei and see if she can teach you some stuff!"

Xxxxxxxxxx

When Naruto got back to the house, he found Anko and Tenten sitting in the living room going over more strategy.

"Neh, sensei, would you teach team seven some stuff?"

Anko looked up at him, "Why would I do that? It's Kakashi's job."

"Cuz all he's taught them so far is teamwork and tree climbing."

"That's…._it_?"

Naruto just nodded his head. "I still don't really see why I have to, take it up with Kakashi."

"But sensei," Naruto sort-of whined, wracking his brain for a good reason. His mind was working well that morning though, so it only took a few seconds for him to come up with a reason. "You'll get to torment fresh, un-tormented Genin. Besides, you wouldn't want Kakashi to turn them all into perverts like he is, do you?"

Anko just gave him one of those I-know-exactly-what-you're-trying-to-do-and-it-isn't-working looks, but said, "Alright, I'll go torture the brats for a little while."

"Thanks, sensei. Oh, do you have any of that chakra level paper? I told them about what happened when I did it and they don't believe me."

"Yeah, I got some still. Are you coming with us buns?" Anko asked as she got up.

Tenten just glared at Anko, but got up to follow anyways.

Naruto led them into the woods, and straight to where team seven was. None of them had noticeably improved while Naruto was gone.

"OI! Brats, come over here!"

None of team seven responded, not used to being summoned that way. Anko waited for all of fifteen seconds, and then yelled out, "Damn it, I'm talking to you!" To help get her point across, she threw a kunai in front of each Genin, getting the attention of both Sai and Sakura. They wandered over to the woman, while Sasuke ignored her.

When she realized that Sasuke was ignoring her, she yelled out, "Oi, Uchiha, you deaf or something?"

"No, he's just a Teme," Naruto replied, just as Sakura got close enough to hear him. She of course started yelling at him, while Anko, who was fed up with waiting for Sasuke to respond, bit her finger. She then flashed through a few seals, before slamming her hand against the ground, yelling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, there was a twenty foot long rattlesnake in front of the Genin.

"What do you want thisssssss time?" the snake hissed at Anko.

Anko pointed at Sasuke, who was thirty feet in the air on the side of a tree. "See him? He didn't come down when I called like a good little brat."

"Sssssssssso," The snake asked.

"I'm giving you the opportunity to…motivate him."

The snake reared its head back, bringing it up so it was eye to eye with its summoner. It stared at her for a few seconds, before hissing out, "Ressssssstrictionssssssssssss?"

Anko smiled at the snake, "You can't kill him, and no serious injury, and when you catch him, light pressure only."

"Fine," the snake hissed, before slithering over to the tree.

"Ha! There's no way that snake can get Sasuke-kun. He's way up in the tree!" Sakura yelled out.

Anko and the rest of the Genin all turned to her; even the snake halted its progress to stare at the pinkette.

"What?"

"You obviously know nothing about ninja summons," Sai stated. "They can use chakra just like we can."

His point was immediately driven home when the snake began to slither its way up the side of the tree without even slowing down, rattle shaking ominously.

Naruto and Tenten shuddered when they heard it. "Oi Teme, I'd hurry up and get down here if I was you!"

"Hn, dobe, I can outrun a snake."

"Not that one you can't. It can go just as fast as Anko-sensei can!"

Sasuke just 'Hn'd' again, and prepared to fight the snake. Much to his surprise, when it got to around ten feet away from him, it burrowed into the tree trunk, vanishing from his sight.

He began to look around, trying to locate it, when he heard Sakura yell out, "Behind you!" He turned around just in time to witness the snake wrap him up, and the shock was enough to make him lose his grip on the tree, sending both him and the snake falling thirty feet to the ground.

Despite having his arms wrapped up, he managed to land on his feet, and began struggling with the snake.

He soon gave up, as lack of oxygen was preventing him from thinking clearly.

"Ok, now that you're all here, I have a test for you. I want all of you to channel chakra into these papers," she said, handing one to each of Kakashi's Genin, and one to Naruto.

"What for," Sakura asked.

"These papers react with the chakra in your body, giving a rough visual approximation as to how much you have. Half of one square is normal for fresh Genin."

"How much do you have?" Sakura asked Anko.

"I get four. Kakashi gets around four and a half, I think, and Hokage-sama gets like five and a quarter, or something like that."

"Oh, ok," Sakura said, as Sai channeled chakra into the paper. He got a half square.

"Ok, that's pretty average. Pinky," Anko said.

Sakura just glared at Anko, and channeled her own paper, only getting just under a quarter of a square.

"Wow, I've never seen a Genin with that low of chakra capacity….." Sakura just hung her head in shame.

All eyes turned to Sasuke, who was lying on the ground still wrapped up by Anko's summon.

Sasuke glared back.

Tiring of Sasuke's antics, Anko pulled out a kunai, "Either you channel chakra into that paper, or I permanently remove the ability for you to make more Uchihas," she said, pointing the kunai at his crotch.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and he quickly channeled his chakra into the paper, getting two thirds of a square.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Alright, now watch me," Naruto said, "I know you didn't believe me when I told you how much chakra I have, so watch."

Despite all of team seven looking skeptical, he held the paper out at arms length, and channeled his massive reserves into the paper.

Just like last time, the whole paper turned black, began smoking, and burst into flame.

Sai was visibly in shock, Sakura was looking from Sasuke to Naruto, trying to figure out Sasuke's reaction so she could agree with it, and Sasuke just looked skeptical.

"Hn, probably defective paper," Sasuke remarked.

"Che, just leave him be Naruto," Tenten said, as she walked up the side of Sasuke's tree. "It's obvious he doesn't care."

Naruto walked over to the same tree, and began to unsteadily follow her.

Anko looked at the rest of the Genin, "Well, what're you standing here for? Get back to work!"

She then dismissed the snake that captured Sasuke, and summoned a few smaller ones. "Keep an eye on the brats. I'm going to go watch the house," she said, before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the week was spent in this fashion, with the only highlight being Anko and Kakashi coming to the conclusion that Zabuza wasn't dead.

"Well, no training tonight," Kakashi told the assembled Genin, who were sitting in Tazuna's living room. "We figure that Zabuza will be just about recovered by tomorrow morning, so we're all going to be guarding the bridge from now on. In the event that he does show up, I want you five to guard Tazuna, and any other workers present, and leave Zabuza to us."

The assembled Genin just nodded, none of them wanting to suffer an injury like Naruto's.

Just then, they heard a sniffle from the stairs.

"I don't know why you bother, you're just gonna die anyway. No one can beat Gato."

"So the correct thing to do is just sit around and suffer then?" Naruto responded quietly, shocking all the other Genin, as well as Kakashi.

"It's better that dieing!" Inari yelled back.

"Giving up isn't going to get you out of this situation. The only way you will ever change anything is if you stand up for yourselves. Sitting around feeling sorry for yourselves won't make Gato go away."

"But his thugs chopped your hand off!"

"So? It just means I need to get stronger. If I only have one hand, I'll be a one-handed ninja. If I lose my other arm, or even both my legs, I still won't give up! As long as I can still breathe, I will fight!"

"You'll just die!"

"If that's the price for protecting what's precious to me, I'll gladly pay that."

That comment made Inari angry for some reason, and he yelled out, "You only think that because you don't know what it's like to suffer!"

Anko, Kakashi, and Tenten all sucked in their breath. Sai, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked at Naruto, who had gone deathly still. Even Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari looked at the blond, waiting for his reaction.

Naruto just clenched his hand into a fist, before walking over to the door. Just before he left the house, he called over his shoulder, "You have absolutely no idea how much I have suffered," before vanishing out into the misty night.

**AN: DUN DUN DUN! inari's comments hit way too close to home for the blond... what will he do? wave arc will probably end in the next couple chapters, depends on how the battles play out. also soon to to be revealed is my plan for naruto's hand. as far as i know, its an original idea, so im really looking forward to seeing how you all take it.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Storm Ch 17 edit**

The occupants of the house looked at the door in shock. None of the other Genin had seen it, but when Naruto had called out to Inari right before he left, he had looked over his shoulder, and Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari got a glimpse of his face, and saw all of the pain reflected in his eyes.

Inari then turned and fled up to his room, and Kakashi soon followed him. Tsunami went to follow as well, but a soft look from Kakashi caused her to stay in the living room.

Kakashi found Inari in his bedroom, holding a framed picture while crying.

The same conversation soon played out in the different rooms.

"You know, Naruto didn't mean to sound that harsh," Kakashi told the crying boy. "You just got under his skin a little when you said that he hasn't suffered."

Inari turned to look at the masked jounin.

"He has suffered more than you can imagine. He hasn't ever had parents, and grew up in an orphanage, until the Hokage got him an apartment. For reasons I can't tell you, almost the whole village hates him. Some people even broke into his apartment once, and attacked him when he was seven. He almost died that night."

He went quiet for a few moments, before adding, "I'm not telling you this so that you'll pity him, since he hates that. I'm only telling you this so that you can understand where he's coming from."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Outside the house, Naruto listened to both conversations, before wandering off into the woods. He wasn't really going anywhere, just letting himself go wherever his feet took him, using the time to calm down and organize his thoughts.

When he finally thought that he would be able to face Inari without loosing his composure, he returned to the house, only to find that it was three in the morning, and everyone was asleep. He quietly snuck into his room, and was soon asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxx

When he fell asleep, he found himself in front of the cage again.

"Oi, Kyu-Chan, why am I here this time?"

"**I just wanted to see how you were doing. You wandered around in the woods for almost five hours."**

Naruto's face lost its smile, "Yeah, I'm ok. I just needed a little time to think," he told the fox.

The fox smiled down at him, **"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I wish I didn't have to wait for you to be asleep to talk to you though…"**

"Ehh, I don't know what to do about that. Oh, I had an idea about the Zenpan Kitsune no Jutsu. I was wondering if…."

Naruto and the fox talked for a while, before Naruto finally left his mindscape, only to find that it was almost noon.

"Ahhh! I overslept!" he yelled out, putting his gear on as fast as he could with one hand. Just as he was about to jump out the window, though, he heard dishes breaking, and Tsunami screaming.

He switched his direction, and crept down the stairs. He peeked into the kitchen, and saw two thugs with drawn katanas standing over Tsunami, who was pressed against the counter, and holding a knife in her hand.

Inari then came bursting into the kitchen, yelling, "What's wrong? I heard you screaming! Are you okaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

As soon as he was within reach, one of the thugs grabbed him, and held his katana to Inari's throat.

"How many hostages did we need?" one of the thugs asked.

"Just one, kill the kid, we'll take the woman."

"NO!" Tsunami yelled out. "If you touch my son I'll bite my tongue off!"

"Well, we can't have any of that, now can we?" the first thug said.

"No, we can't," Naruto spoke, appearing in the hallway behind the thugs.

"Eh? Who are you brat? Go away before we hurt you."

"Not gonna happen."

"Oh? And what's gonna stop us? A one handed brat with a kunai?"

"Nope," Naruto said as several clones dropped from the ceiling onto the thugs' heads, each hitting them in the head with frying pans. "Twelve one handed brats with frying pans are gonna beat you."

He then helped Inari crawl out from under the unconscious thugs, and then quickly tied them up.

"Thank you, Naruto," Tsunami told him.

"Don't worry about it. The hero always arrives a little late," he replied, smiling, before jumping out of the kitchen window and making his way to the bridge.

Xxxxxxxxxx

On the bridge, things weren't going very well. Anko and Kakashi were fighting Zabuza in a mist so dense they could almost stand on it, and Sasuke and Sai were fighting the phony hunter-nin. The Jounin were doing alright, but the Genin weren't doing so well.

Each of the boys was covered in senbon needles, and they were trapped in a large dome of ice. Every attack they launched was either intercepted or ineffective, and both of them were quickly running out of chakra. Not even Sasuke's newly awakened Sharingan was helping. He could now follow Haku's rapid movement, but his body couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it.

Sakura was a nervous wreck standing next to Tazuna. She could only hear the Jounin battle, and was catching glimpses of Sasuke and Sai fighting. When she felt something furry brush up against her leg, she almost screamed, only to realize it was a small fox.

"What are you doing here," she asked it, still on the lookout for the enemy. "You should leave, it's dangerous here."

The fox then erupted in a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, Naruto was standing next to her. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The senseis are fighting Zabuza in the mist over there, and Sasuke and Sai are fighting that face hunter-nin inside the ice thingy over there," she told him.

Naruto looked around for a second, "Where's Ten-Chan?"

Sakura looked at him for a second, until it finally clicked in her brain what he wanted. "Oh, uhh, I don't know. I haven't seen her in a while."

"I'm right here," a voice right behind the two Genin said, causing them both to whip around in surprise, kunai at the ready.

As soon as they turned around, they saw Tenten crouching on the side of the bridge, "What are you doing over there?" Sakura asked.

"I'm making sure that there aren't any enemies under the bridge."

"Did you find anyone?" Naruto asked.

"Nope, under the bridge is all clear."

"Ok. See if you can go help the sensei's; I'm gonna go help Teme and buru-bo-i."

"How are you gonna do that Naruto? You only got one hand!" Sakura blurted out.

"Don't worry about it. Ten-Chan," Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I'll try and hit him with kunai or something, but there's no way in hell I'm going out into that mist. Sakura does have a point though, how are you gonna help them with only one hand?"

"Like this. Fuzen Kitsune no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled out, engulfing the three Genin and Tazuna in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, Sakura almost fell over in shock.

"What the hell baka? A Henge isn't gonna help Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura, this isn't a Henge. It's a true transformation, see?" he said, as he brushed her arm with his tail, "Henges can't touch things."

Sakura's jaw about fell off at that statement, "How the hell did you learn that?"

"I was taught it, by someone very close to me," he replied, confusing Sakura even more.

Before she could reply though, he ran off toward the ice dome, and Tenten returned to the side of the bridge, trying to find Zabuza without entering his thick mist.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke and Sai were in dire need of assistance, though the Uchiha would rather die than actually admit he needed help. He could see Haku's attacks, but his body wasn't fast enough to avoid them.

None of Sasuke's attacks seemed to work either, the net result of them so far just making him low on chakra. Sai had long since given up on his ink Jutsu, since they were all dispelled basically instantly by Haku's needle storm.

He had been reduced to trying to block incoming needles with his ninjato, and wasn't doing a very good job of it. He had been able to avoid any hits to vital locations, but the rest of him looked like a pin cushion, as did most of Sasuke.

Haku was about to move in and finish them off when a kunai slammed into his mask right between Haku's eyes, causing the portion covering his forehead to fall off.

"Oi! Leave them alone. If anyone's gonna beat up the Teme it's gonna be me!" a voice yelled, and all three occupants of the dome looked around, until they found the thrower of the knife.

"Naruto," Sasuke panted out, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass, Teme, since you don't seem to be doing a very good job of it yourself."

As much as Sasuke wanted to yell at Naruto for that, the blond had a bit of truth in his statement.

"What's with the tail, dickless?"

Naruto just glared at Sai, "It's part of a Jutsu I learned." Sai was about to continue, but Haku prevented him from doing so, launching a barrage of needles at him.

"You shouldn't have dropped your guard like that," the masked-nin said, as Sai fell to the ground.

Naruto ran over to him, entering the dome of mirrors. "Oi, you ok?" he asked once he was close enough.

"I believe I will live, but I am unable to continue this battle. That last barrage of needles has immobilized my joints. I cannot move under my own power."

"Sasuke, how are you doing?"

"Hn, I'm fine, dobe."

"Teme is low on chakra, and is having difficulty moving his left arm," Sai responded, causing Sasuke to glare at him from his use of Naruto's nickname.

Haku took this moment to fling more needles at the trio, as he believed that they were sufficiently distracted.

He didn't count on Naruto's advanced hearing, though, and the blond nin heard the needles coming in time to spawn some clones to take the damage.

"Has he used anything besides needles yet?" Naruto asked once the smoke had cleared from his defeated clones.

"No. All he has done so far is jump from mirror to mirror and fling needles at us."

"Ok, I think I can work with that."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Tenten was having a much more difficult time than Naruto was. She wasn't facing being turned into a pin cushion, but she couldn't even find her target. She knew that going into the mist was almost certain death, so she stayed outside of it as much as she could. There was no way in hell that she was jumping into a Jounin level battle, especially not when neither side could see her, or her see them.

Suddenly, she saw a shape begin to materialize out of the mist, and it turned out to be Anko fighting Zabuza. She had somehow gotten him away from his massive sword, and had engaged him in a Taijutsu fight.

Seeing an opportunity to help, Tenten launched a kunai at his legs, and succeeded in hitting the back of his left thigh. Zabuza didn't bleed though, and just erupted into a puddle.

Anko and Tenten locked eyes, just in time for Tenten to see Anko's eyes widen significantly. Acting on pure instinct, Tenten dropped in place, causing the blade of a massive sword to swing over her head, missing by less than an inch. It was so close that it cut the ties holding her buns in place.

Just as Zabuza was about to swing again, three kunai landed in the middle of his chest, causing him to once again erupt into a puddle.

Tenten looked up to thank Anko, but could only gape as another massive sword went flying right through her midsection, separating the top half of Anko from the bottom.

Before she fell over though, she erupted in smoke, and it revealed a piece of cement that had been chopped in place of the Tokujo.

This clone was also killed, this time by Kakashi, who stabbed it in the back with his kunai. "Are you alright?" the masked Jounin asked.

Tenten was barely able to answer him, for the sight of Kakashi with his Sharingan exposed and his legendary gravity-defying silver hair plastered to his head scared the girl almost as much as Zabuza did.

"H-Hai, Kakashi-sense, I'm fine."

"Good. Now, I want you to get away from here and go help Sakura guard Tazuna, ok?"

"Aww," a voice said from the confines of the mist, "But I haven't got a chance to play with the brat yet. Surely you wouldn't spoil my fun before it even begins?"

"Shit, he already knows you're here. Tenten, I want you to defend yourself to the best of your ability, ok? I promise that both Anko and I will do everything we can to keep you alive."

"Hey, don't make promises for me. I'm plenty capable myself, got it? And since when did I say you could call me Anko?"

"Sensei," Tenten called out, happy that her psychotic teacher wasn't chopped in half.

"Yeah, yeah, keep all the sentimental shit to yourselves," Anko grumbled as she got to Kakashi, "I'm a little banged up, but I'll be fine in a few days."

This statement caused Tenten to relax, just as a massive blade went flying toward her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

**AN: AHHHHHH! EVIL CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU!**

**wave arc will probably end next chapter.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Storm Ch 18 **

**AN: well, here it is. the chapter that reveals what im doing to naruto's hand.****  
**

Naruto had been defending himself as best he could with Sai's ninjato. It was balanced a little different that his tanto were, but he was still able to defend himself fairly well with it. That doesn't mean he was uninjured though. There were a few needles in each limb, and about a dozen in his back.

Naruto barely noticed though. He had been countering Haku's attacks with swarms of clones, though they were usually defeated almost instantly, turning their fight into a battle of attrition. From his lessons with Iruka and Anko, he knew that Jutsu as large and complicated as the ice mirrors had to be very draining to use and maintain, and he was now waiting for Haku to run out of chakra.

He was just about to launch another wave of clones when he heard Tenten scream, instantly bringing all of his thoughts about the current battle to a halt. Before he could do anything else, though, Tenten went flying through one of the ice mirrors, landing at Naruto's feet.

"Ten-Chan!" Naruto dropped to his knees as he checked his fallen teammate for injury, and much to his relief found nothing immediately life threatening. Her only injury was a gash to her left side, caused by the razor sharp fragments of her katana shattering when Zabuza had hit her. It was a good thing it was only a water clone, too, or else it would've chopped her fully in half.

Tenten just groaned a little, and then gasped in pain, her hands immediately shooting to the site of her injury and applying some pressure. Naruto dug some bandages out of his pouch and began trying to bandage her wound, but Tenten began to stop him.

"No, I can do it myself," she told him through clenched teeth.

"Oh? It's the brat from last time. Looks like I get to finish them both, and send them to hell together." Zabuza then charged the two Genin, and Naruto, being who he is, threw Sai's ninjato at him, and charged the missing nin as well.

The futile effort of throwing the ninjato ended up saving his life, as Zabuza had to turn his massive blade sideways to deflect the strike, and that forced him to his Naruto with the flat of his blade rather than the edge, and the impact sent him flying back to where Tenten was.

As soon as he stopped moving, he tried to get back up, only to find that his right arm had been broken in at least two places, as was indicated by the extra joints.

Still, he struggled back to his feet, and once again charged Zabuza; his will set on keeping him from getting to Tenten. This time, though, he noticed that Zabuza was bleeding from his head, and saw that someone, evidently Tenten, had chopped part of his ear off.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi and Anko were in trouble. They knew that Zabuza had attacked Tenten, but they couldn't find them in the thick mist. Kakashi even thought about summoning his dogs, but knew that they wouldn't be much help in the thick mist either.

Xxxxxxxxxx

This time, Zabuza just kicked Naruto in the chest, sending him flying through the air, and causing him to land in a heap about ten feet from Tenten.

"Naruto," Tenten yelled, struggling to her feet. Naruto didn't move, and Tenten began to fear the worst, especially when she saw blood on his neck. She then pulled out a kunai with one hand, keeping the other pressed against her wound.

She walked over to him slowly, in case Zabuza made any kind of move to attack. When he didn't move, she bent down next to Naruto, and held her fingers against his neck. While she did that, she realized that there wasn't enough blood to be a fatal wound, but also realized that Naruto barely had a pulse.

"Hmpf, looks like I about killed the brat. I'll have to correct that," Zabuza said as he charged toward Tenten, intent on killing them before returning to finish off the jounin.

She tried to defend herself as best she could, but while able to prevent a lethal strike, she wasn't able to stop the strike itself, and it sent her and the barely conscious Naruto flying across the bridge. Naruto landed on top of Sai and Sasuke, knocking them both out, and Tenten slammed into one of Haku's remaining mirrors, knocking the wind out of her.

Zabuza then began to stalk toward the downed girl, and Tenten began trying to crawl away from him.

"Well, I guess this is the end for you, brat. I hope you enjoy the afterlife. You won't be alone there for long though, as I fully intend on sending the rest of your team and that old man to join you there. You really shouldn't have cut off part of my ear. If you hadn't, I might have let you all live once I got the old man. Oh well, too bad for you. Good bye, brat." Zabuza then lifted his massive sword, and brought it down on the injured Genin.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was awake when he hit the ground after his last charge at Zabuza; it's just that his head was spinning so bad he couldn't do anything. He felt Tenten press her fingers against his neck, and heard the barely audible sigh of relief she let out. He heard Zabuza speak, and he heard and felt Zabuza strike the two of them. He felt it when he slammed into the bridge, which for some odd reason got his head to stop spinning.

This time, he was actually able to see Zabuza as he made his speech, and had just staggered to his feet when he realized that Zabuza was about to kill Tenten. He launched himself towards him as fast as he could, praying that he made it in time.

Xxxxxxxxxx

As Tenten saw the sword come down, she felt oddly at peace. She had closed her eyes as she awaited the embrace of death, and waited, and waited, and waited. After a few seconds of waiting, when she was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that she should be dead, she eased her still-living eyes open a fraction of an inch, and as soon as her brain processed what she was seeing, her eyes opened so far she could make Lee look like he was squinting.

Standing in front of her was the battered form of Naruto, who had leapt in front of Zabuza's blade before it could chop her in half. That, though, isn't what was making her eyes fall out of her head. No, the thing making her eyes fall out was the fact that _Naruto_ was _holding back_ Zabuza's _massive_ sword, and he was doing it _with his non-existent left hand._

Xxxxxxxxxx

Zabuza knew the whiskered brat wasn't dead the last time he hit him. He wasn't really sure how he knew that, since any normal Genin who took that amount of punishment _should_ be dead, but somehow he knew that Naruto wasn't dead.

Still, that fact didn't bother him any and he decided to taunt the girl before he killed her, not even _running_ towards her to finish her off until the last possible moment.

For some reason, he blinked as he struck, and so had his eyes closed during the actual moment that Tenten should've been chopped in half. When he opened his eyes again, he fully expected to see to halves of a Genin girl with a large puddle of blood and assorted organs between them.

That is not what he saw.

No, what he saw was the other Genin he had been pounding on; the one he had chopped the hand off of last week. Had that been the only thing he saw, he probably would've just chopped both Genin in half and been done with it. It's what that one-handed Genin was doing that really got his attention. The brat was holding back his sword.

Granted, it hadn't been a full-force swing, but he had still put some power into it, and this brat was holding it back with just _one hand._ Wait, correction, he was holding it back _with his goddamned STUMP!_

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto had no idea what would happen to him when he got in between Zabuza and Tenten. His only thought at the time was to protect Tenten, consequences be damned. As he ran, he began to notice that his chakra was flowing through his body a lot faster than normal. As he slid into position between Zabuza and Tenten, though, he noticed something else. He would later swear that he heard a voice in his head right before Zabuza swung.

It whispered, "Trust me."

So he did. And as soon as he did, his chakra flared to an immense level, letting off a blinding flash of light, and his left arm came up, as if he had intended to catch Zabuza's sword with his left hand. He felt an immense amount of chakra flow through his left arm, and out through his damaged wrist.

There was so much chakra coming out of him, that he could actually _see _it. It was blasting out of his arm like water from a hose when Zabuza's sword first came into contact with it. He could _feel _his chakra fighting against the blade, as it continued to fall, until his chakra pulsed again, letting out another flash of light, and Zabuza's sword stopped cold.

When the spots cleared from his eyes, Naruto's eyes almost fell out. He was currently holding back Zabuza's massive sword, _with his left hand._ That was surprising enough for the blond, until he realized one more crucial detail. _His left hand was made entirely of chakra!_

Both he and Zabuza stared at Naruto's new hand, watching as it changed colors, mixing and separating between red and blue, but never going to purple. They were also both amazed at the fact that they could both see through it, yet it was solid enough to hold back his sword.

Zabuza was so shocked at the development that he didn't even realize that he had been wrapped up in Anko's snakes until it was far too late, and he didn't become fully aware of his surroundings until he heard a noise that sounded like a whole bunch of angry birds chirping somewhere behind him.

He was just bale to turn his head enough to see what was happening behind him, and it about stopped his heart. Haku, the boy he had raised to be nothing but a tool, was trying to intercept Kakashi, who had his left hand full of some sort of lightning Jutsu, and was charging towards Zabuza.

Oddly enough, Zabuza didn't struggle in his bindings, and didn't even flinch when Kakashi struck. In fact, he turned his head back to face forward, not able to watch Haku sacrifice himself to save him. He looked down, and could just make out Kakashi's fingertips from the blood cascading down his chest. He smiled behind his facial wraps, and was content as death claimed him and the boy behind him.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto watched in shock, horror, and awe as a hand came bursting out of Zabuza's chest. He just stared at the missing nin, until the hand sticking out of his chest retracted, and the massive nin fell over, revealing the other enemy nin behind him, with a similar wound. This ninja was also pulled off the arm, revealing it to belong to Kakashi, who was breathing heavily.

"Are you ok, Naruto," he panted out.

"I…..I'm fine, I think."

Kakashi and Anko both sighed, as Kakashi pulled his forehead protector back down using his right hand, since his left hand was covered in blood up to the shoulder. Anko then bent over to check on Tenten, and managed to get her out of her stupor.

"N-Naruto?" she asked.

"Yeah, Ten-Chan," Naruto asked.

"What's up with your hand?"

Kakashi and Anko both looked at her confused, until they noticed Naruto looking at his left hand, which seemed to be made entirely of chakra.

"Oi, brat, what the hell is that?" Anko asked.

"I don't know, sensei," he replied.

"**It's a chakra hand."**

"What the hell? Who said that?" Naruto yelled, whipping his head around, trying to locate the speaker.

"**Oi, kit, it's me."**

"Kyu-Chan?" Naruto asked.

"**Yes. You were pulling on my chakra during the fight, and it caused the seal to weaken slightly, which is why I am able to talk to you while you are awake now. Before you freak out, though, I still have no chance of escaping."**

"Oh, ok."

"Uhh, Naruto, what the hell is going on?" Kakashi asked.

"Huh? Oh, I was talking to Kyu-Chan."

"I thought you had to be sleeping to do that," Anko added, just as concerned as Kakashi as to what this could mean for the blond.

"Well, yeah, before today I did have to be asleep to talk to her, but I was pulling on her chakra during the fight and she just told me that the seal has weakened a little bit." Seeing the sensei's eyes grow huge at that bit of information, he hastily added, "But she still can't get out."

"**Before they ask, all that has really changed is that we can now talk while you are awake, I can heal you faster, and you will have easier access to my chakra."**

"Ok, I'll tell them that. Kyu-Chan says that all that has changed is that we can talk now, she can heal me faster, and that I have easier access to her chakra."

"**If you want to talk to me, you just have to think what you're going to say, you don't have to actually say it for me to hear you."**

"Naruto, I want you to show me your seal. I would like to check it for myself." Kakashi asked, lifting his forehead protector again.

Before Naruto could respond, though, a large group of people approached from the unfinished end of the bridge, led by a short fat man in a white suit.

"Well, at least this saves me the trouble of having to kill him. Some demon, to have been killed by a bunch of kids. Oh well, just leave the old man and all of you can leave here alive," the man yelled out.

"Gato I presume?" Kakashi asked.

The man in the suit nodded, "Good, you know who I am, that should make this go much faster. Leave, now."

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that. We _were_ hired to protect Tazuna-san from people like you, after all." Kakashi continued.

Gato just glared at Kakashi, "Men! Kill them all! Double pay for whoever kills the ninja with the silver hair!"

The conscious Konoha-nins braced themselves as best they could to withstand the assault of the army of bandits and thugs, but they all stopped when an arrow thudded into the bridge a few feet in front of the bandits.

The ninja spun around quickly to identify the new threat, and saw the whole town approaching, led by Tsunami and a cross-bow carrying Inari.

"Get the hell out of our town!" one of the villagers yelled.

"What the hell are you waiting for? They're just villagers! Kill them too!" Gato yelled out, convincing his men to charge again.

Naruto meanwhile was having a conversation of his own.

'_What do we do Kyu-Chan?'_

"**Those men are just bandits. They most likely have little if any proper training, and will probably scare off rather easily."**

'_Ok, uhhhh, Oh! I know!'_

"Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto yelled out, creating fifty copies of himself.

Realizing what Naruto was going to do, Kakashi yelled out, "Protect the villagers, Naruto! We'll handle the bandits!" Kakashi and Anko then charged the bandits, carving through them like they weren't even there. They didn't kill very many of them, though. Most were just knocked out, or otherwise incapacitated.

Gato was knocked out as well, and all the living bandits were rounded up so that ANBU could collect them, after Kakashi sent them a message through some special, ANBU-only messaging technique.

It was at this point that Sakura and Tazuna walked over, and Sakura asked, "Naruto, what's up with your hand?"

**AN: well? what do you think? im rather curious as to your reactions, since i dont know of any other story that has body parts made out of just chakra. anyway, lemme know what you think!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Storm Ch 19  
**

It was at this point that Sakura and Tazuna walked over, and Sakura asked, "Naruto, what's up with your hand?"

Naruto immediately tensed up, and his first thought was "Oh, shit."

Fortunately, he was saved from having to explain right then by Anko, who said, "Not now, pinky. Go help Kakashi wake up the rest of your team. Tazuna, please stay here for a moment."

Sakura looked from Naruto to Anko, and then slowly walked over to help Kakashi wake up Sai and Sasuke. Tazuna looked at Anko confused, since he didn't know what the Tokujo wanted.

"Tazuna-san, I need to know right now how much you heard and what you saw between the death of Zabuza, and the capture of Gato," Anko said quietly, her tone indicating complete seriousness.

"Well," he replied quietly, realizing that Anko didn't want Sakura to overhear their conversation, "I heard Naruto mention something about a chakra hand, and I heard him reference something called 'Kyu-Chan,' but that was about it. I was still in shock that he stopped that giant sword."

Anko sighed heavily. "Alright, Naruto has an entity sealed inside of him. For village security reasons I can't tell you anything about that entity, but Naruto can pull on its chakra in times of need, and he calls this entity Kyu-Chan. The massive burst of chakra came from that entity, and it is responsible for forming Naruto's chakra hand. Officially, you know none of this. I am only telling you so that you won't ask questions around the other Genin. Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura do not know that Naruto contains this entity, and you are going to keep it that way, understand?"

"Uh, Hai," Tazuna responded, nodding his head. "Are these two going to be alright?" he asked, motioning to Naruto and Tenten.

"Yeah, I think so. Konoha Genin are stronger than they look. Give them a few days, and my brats will be back in top form."

Naruto, meanwhile, was helping Tenten. She had been injured when her katana was shattered, and he was trying to make sure that there were no fragments in her body so that he could bandage the wound.

"Nnng, Naru…..to…. I think… there's still…one left…" Tenten panted out. The shock of being saved had worn off, and there was nothing blocking the pain she felt.

"I don't see it, Ten-Chan," Naruto replied. He knew that he needed to bandage Tenten's wound soon, but she wasn't yet in danger of bleeding to death.

"It's…there, I can…still feel it."

"**Naruto, use your left hand."**

'_Huh?' _

"**That hand is made of pure chakra. It can pass through some objects, and interact with others. You should be able to push your chakra fingers farther into Tenten's body, without harming her."**

"What….is it, Naruto?" despite the pain, she had noticed Naruto sort of zone out.

"Huh? Oh, it was Kyu-Chan telling me about my new hand. She says that I should be able to use it to get that last piece of your sword."

"How's…that?"

"Since my hand is just chakra, it can move through some stuff like it isn't even there, and then I can do stuff inside of other stuff," he replied.

Tenten looked like she didn't understand a word he said; which is normal, since she really didn't understand a word he said.

"Will it….work?"

Naruto 'zoned out' for a second, "Kyu-Chan says yes, but it might hurt some more."

Tenten squeezed her eyes shut, "Just get it over with then."

Naruto took a deep breath, and then slowly began to push the fingers of his left hand inside her abdomen. The strange feeling immediately caused him to pull his hand out, and it wasn't until some reassuring from the fox that he was able to continue.

To Tenten, she didn't really feel more pain, just a strange tingle from where his hand was. She was about to relax, until Naruto found the fragment, causing a sharp spike of pain to rush through her system, which made her cringe rather significantly.

Realizing he found the fragment, Naruto began to gently push it out of Tenten's body, being as gentle as he knew how to be. To each of them, it seemed to take forever for the fragment to work its way out of Tenten's side, but it actually only took about a minute.

As soon as it was out, Naruto immediately began to bandage Tenten's wound, to prevent further blood loss. It was then that Anko walked over, and assisted Naruto in bandaging Tenten.

"You ok?" Anko asked Tenten.

"I will be sensei. When Zabuza hit me, my katana shattered, and some of the pieces hit me. Naruto just finished removing them."

"Did you get them all?" Anko asked Naruto.

"I think so. I got all the ones that Ten-Chan could feel, anyway."

"Alright, it should be safe to move her then. Can you carry her?" she asked Naruto.

"I think so," the boy replied, crouching in front of Tenten.

Tenten then wrapped her arms around Naruto's shoulders, and he stood up, lifting her onto his back. He felt his chakra moving around his body, and realized that Kyu-Chan was sending her chakra to his muscles to help him carry the injured girl on his back.

Once he was steady, he walked over to where team seven was. Sakura was fawning over Sasuke, and Sasuke was doing his best to ignore her as he wobbled around. Sai wasn't standing yet, but he was sitting up and conscious.

Sai noticed that Naruto was carrying Tenten, and asked, "What happened to Tenten-san?"

"Zabuza hit her katana with his sword, and it shattered. Some of the fragments hit her," Naruto replied, causing Tenten to glare at him and lightly smack him in the head.

"I may not be able to walk right now, but I sure as hell can answer questions."

Naruto just chuckled nervously, "Sorry, Ten-Chan."

He then turned his attention back to Sai, "Can you stand?"

"Yes, but my balance is still off. Everything is currently tilted to the left a little bit, but as time goes on it is leveling out," he replied.

Anko, meanwhile, was talking to Kakashi.

"Are your Genin alright?"

"Ah. Sasuke and Sai both slammed heads, but they should be fine in a little while. Yours?" the masked Nin replied.

"Naruto seems to be alright, all things considered, and Tenten has a slight shrapnel wound that I want to take a proper look at, but otherwise they seem fine. If you can handle it here, I'll take the Genin back to Tazuna's house, and take a look at Tenten. You want me to take yours as well?"

Kakashi thought for a second, "No, I'll wait till they can walk back under their own power. I have to stay here and wait for the ANBU anyway, so it'll give me something to do."

"Alright, oh, can you look at Naruto when you get back?"

Kakashi just nodded his head, and Anko went off to collect her Genin.

"Naruto, Tazuna, we're going back to your house. Tenten has been injured, and I would like to examine it further. Kakashi will follow with his team once ANBU have collected the prisoners."

Sakura began to interrupt, but Kakashi quietly cut her off, "Sakura, I know you have questions. Believe me, I do too. However, now is not the time to ask them, and once we get back to Tazuna's we'll all try and get our questions answered, ok? Until then, I would like you to help get Sasuke and Sai walking again."

Xxxxxxxxxx

The walk back to Tazuna's house was entirely uneventful, and as soon as they arrived, Tsunami led them into the kitchen, and began to clear off the table. Once it was clear, Naruto gently lowered Tenten onto it, and helped her lie down.

Anko then began a simple diagnostic Jutsu, and ran it across Tenten's abdomen, checking for further injury.

"Did I miss anything, sensei?" Naruto asked quietly, not wanting to distract Anko.

"No, I haven't found anything that you missed, just that your bandaging was a little sloppy. It's pretty good for a field dressing, but I'm going to change it now, and wash it out properly. Tsunami, do you have any Sake?" Anko asked, as she began to un-wrap Tenten's wound.

"Hai," the woman replied, handing the Tokujo the requested bottle of alcohol.

"What's that for?" Inari asked, finally causing everyone on the room to realize that he was there.

"It's not perfect, but the alcohol in the Sake will help disinfect the wound so it won't get infected. Stronger alcohol would work better, but this should still do the job."

Anko finished unwrapping Tenten's side, and took a moment to look the wound over; making sore there was no visible debris in it. Satisfied that the wound was clean, she asked, "Oh, I need a couple towels, a wash cloth, and a wooden spoon as well, if you have them."

The requested items were soon handed over, and Naruto asked, "Ok, I get that the towels are to soak up the Sake after you clean the wound with it, but what about the spoon?"

Anko just wrapped the spoon handle with the wash cloth, and gave it to Tenten, who stuck it in her mouth.

"Pouring alcohol on an open wound stings like a bitch," Anko said, "and the wrapped spoon is to keep her from grinding her teeth together, biting a hole through her lip, or anything like that." She then turned to Tenten, "You ready for this?"

Tenten just nodded, and Anko began to pour the Sake down Tenten's side, making the young girl wince and groan, and the rest of the people in the room could see that Tenten was putting a lot of force on the spoon handle.

Once Anko was satisfied that the wound was clean, she re-wrapped Tenten's wound, and helped her down from the table.

"Ugh, I am definitely getting an armored mesh shirt when we get home," Tenten groaned out, while Naruto helped her up the stairs. "Being injured like this sucks."

Once Tenten was in bed, she fell asleep rather quickly, and Naruto followed soon after.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The Konoha-nins stayed at Tazuna's house for another week, mainly waiting for Tenten to recover enough to walk long distances without worrying about her wound opening.

When Sakura had asked Naruto about his hand, he explained (at the fox's suggestion) that he didn't really know how it had formed, or why it had formed. He just knew that it had formed, and that it had saved his life in the process.

Though reluctant, Sakura and the rest of Kakashi's Genin believed his story. Sasuke kept glaring at Naruto, until he realized that Naruto couldn't really _do _much with his new hand; it just kept phasing through almost everything he touched with it. The only thing Sasuke noticed that it _did_ do was give Naruto the ability to properly mold his chakra again, so his control didn't suck so badly anymore. His superiority no longer threatened, Sasuke dropped the matter entirely.

Sakura didn't really know what to think about Naruto's hand, but since Sasuke didn't do anything about it, she didn't either. Sai was curious, but he cared more about what Naruto could do with it than where it came from.

Naruto of course was thrilled that he had his control back, and celebrated it by walking down to breakfast each morning on the ceiling, even carrying Tenten with him the first couple times.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Still, their last week in Wave had to end, and it was a different kind of experience for the Konoha-nins, especially Anko's team. Being all orphans and outcasts, they weren't really used to being the center of attention, especially not when the whole village was watching them.

The whole village had shown up, of course. Not only were they witnessing the departure of their saviors, but they had dedicated the bridge to them, and Naruto specifically. They officially named it 'The Great Naruto Bridge,' but there were several plaques along its length featuring the other members present.

The Konoha-nins didn't actually leave Wave until mid-afternoon, despite having set out just after dawn, but none of them really complained about it. Still, they made good time returning to Konoha, arriving just three days after they left Wave. They could've done it faster, but Tenten wasn't in top shape yet, and they didn't want to aggravate her wounds.

Along the way, Naruto kept experimenting with his new hand, and figured out that he could turn it off, so to speak, by cutting the flow of chakra to his wrist. It was a good thing for him to learn, since whenever he got angry his hand would start to change colors, almost like a mood ring. This wouldn't have been a problem if it was normal for people's chakra to change color, but it wasn't; especially not when the color it's changing to is a rather demonic looking red.

Naruto realized this pretty quick, and began having to cancel the chakra hand whenever he was irritated or angry, lest the Genin of team seven ask awkward questions that he wasn't ready to answer.

Of course, Sasuke wasn't happy. Not only did Naruto get the bridge named after him, when it should've been called the Great Sasuke Bridge, he was figuring out things he could do with that damn hand of his all the way back to the village. It wasn't anything important, but Naruto's incessant chatter about it was extremely annoying.

When they arrived in Konoha, they all went straight to the hospital, as was standard when returning from a mission where injury had occurred. After a quick examination for each of them, (except Naruto, since none of the medical staff seemed to care about him) and Tenten being told that she shouldn't train for another week at least, they all headed to the Hokage tower to give their mission reports.


	20. Chapter 20

Here it is. The rant chapter. It ended up being changed enough that I'm going to leave the other rant story up, and i hope that you all enjoy this one as much as you did the other one.

**Storm Ch 20  
**

When they all filed into the Hokage's office, Naruto was talking to Tenten about something, Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to go out with her, Sai was sketching on the end of some scroll, and Anko and Kakashi were quiet.

"Hi Jii-Chan," Naruto said loudly as soon as he got into the office.

"Naruto, you should be more respectful of Hokage-sama!" Sakura immediately yelled out.

"Why? Jii-Chan doesn't care if I call him that," Naruto replied; although Sarutobi's face showed that he seemingly agreed with Sakura.

"Maa, let's not start an argument now. We're here to give our reports," Kakashi interjected, trying to get them back on the topic at hand.

"Thank you," Sarutobi replied once the Genin quieted down. "Now, I know that you described part of the mission in your request for reinforcements, but please elaborate on that."

Kakashi then told the old man about the beginning of the mission, and the encounter with the Demon Brothers. He told him about Tazuna's story, and the fact that Tazuna agreed to pay for an A-ranked mission as soon as he could afford it.

Anko picked up the story once Kakashi got to the part where they met up, and carried it on through the arrival at Tazuna's house, pausing before mentioning that Naruto was injured.

"Naruto, Anko said you were injured, what exactly happened?"

"Well, Jii-Chan, Zabuza was about to attack Ten-Chan, so I pushed her out of the way and tried to block his attack, but he was too powerful, and I wasn't able to block his attack fully. He ended up cutting my hand off." Naruto then pulled his left arm out of the pocket he had been hiding it in, and let the old man see it.

Sarutobi's face fell at the news, since in all likelihood Naruto would have to quit being a ninja. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naruto. I will see if I can find out anything that may be able to help you."

"Ehh, don't worry about it, Jii-Chan. I already got it fixed."

Seeing the look of shock on the old man's face, Anko just continued the story, with occasional additions from each of the rest of them. When it got to the last fight with Zabuza, each person told their part of the tale, ending with Naruto.

"So I threw myself in front of his sword, put my hand up, and shot out my chakra, and it molded into this," he said, channeling chakra to his wrist, and causing the ghostly looking hand to appear. "Its pure chakra and I was able to catch Zabuza's blade with it."

That admission nearly made Sarutobi's eyes fall out, and it made Sasuke glare at Naruto.

"Dobe, tell me how you did that with your chakra," Sasuke requested.

"No way, Teme, I wouldn't tell you how to do that even if I knew how to," Naruto replied.

Sasuke turned to face Naruto, "I need that power much more than you do. Give it to me."

"You deaf Teme, I said no. What do you want it for so bad anyway?"

"I have to kill a certain man, and I need more power to do that."

"You gotta kill someone huh? Well, too bad. Work hard like the rest of us to get power."

"Hn, like you ever work hard. You probably just sit around and eat ramen all day."

For some reason, Sasuke making fun of Naruto apparently not working hard struck a chord in the young blond, for he got very quiet. "You think I don't work hard, Sasuke? Tell me, just what do you think it was like for me growing up? I've been working hard my whole life."

"Psh, yeah right, you never did anything while you were growing up, except for stupid pranks on some villagers," Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto clenched his right hand into a fist, "Tell me then, Sasuke. How was I able to sneak into this very office and steal the Forbidden Scroll, without alerting anybody that I did it, while still a student?"

"Psh, as if, there is no way you got past the Hokage."

"Actually, Sasuke, Naruto is right. He did sneak in here, and successfully stole the Forbidden Scroll. He also assisted in the capture of a Chunin-ranked spy that night."

This made Sasuke livid. "How in the hell is the dobe that strong?" he yelled out, "_I_ need that power, not him!"

"So that's all you care about, then, right Sasuke? I should just bend over backwards and give you everything you want just so that you can kill your older brother?"

Sasuke was slightly shocked that Naruto knew who he wanted to kill, but he didn't let that stop him from being angry. "I'm not going to explain why I have to kill Itachi. You wouldn't understand what I have gone through anyway. It's not like you had your brother slaughter your entire family."

Naruto just looked away from Sasuke, before continuing in a quiet voice, "You're right, Sasuke. I have no idea what that feels like. I most likely never will. Still, I have my own burdens; ones that make yours seem almost insignificant in comparison."

Everyone was shocked by that statement. Those who knew of it caught the obvious Kyuubi reference, and those that didn't wondered what could possibly trump the slaughter of your whole family.

"I'm not trying to say that what you went through wasn't terrible and completely life-altering, but there are people out there much worse off than you are."

"What the hell do you know? You've been alone your whole life! Who do you think you are to compare whatever pathetic burdens you have to mine?" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke, the whole village loves you. All you have to do is ask for something and it will be given to you. The only reason you are still alone is by choice. You at least got to know what it was like to have parents, grand parents, and siblings. I don't even know who my parents are. You know what it feels like to be hugged and worried over. You know what it feels like to be loved. I don't."

All the people in the room were shocked into silence; even Sasuke couldn't reply to that.

"I have been alone since before I can remember. I grew up in an orphanage, and everyone there _hated_ me. I was given the coldest room, the thinnest futon, and the most worthless blanket they could find. I was never given enough food, and always hungry. Whenever something bad happened, it was automatically my fault, even if it was physically impossible for me to have had anything to do with it.

I taught myself how to read, write, walk, talk, and run. I did everything that the good children did, and I was still punished for it. On the days that people looking to adopt children came by, I was locked in my room, so as not to interfere with the other kids.

Jii-Chan got me out of there when I was five, and got me my first apartment. Still, it wasn't much better. When I was seven…" Naruto then trailed off. The adults all knew what he was about to talk about, and were quite surprised that he decided to mention it.

"When I was seven, more specifically on my seventh birthday, I was almost killed. Some villagers broke into my apartment and beat me up. Then they decided to cut me up. Some Chunin then stopped by to investigate the noise, and after discovering that they were beating me up, decided to join in. Still, that wasn't enough for them; no, they decided to light me on fire Sasuke. They lit my apartment on fire while I was passed out on the floor. I somehow managed to crawl over to a window before I got burned too bad, and then jumped out of a fourth story window, so I wouldn't burn to death."

"Naruto…" Sarutobi tried to cut in.

"No, its ok, Jii-Chan, I think it's time they all know. Anyway, the villagers didn't just beat me up and cut me. They carved names into me."

This made Tenten and Sakura gasp, and made Sasuke and Sai's eyes widen.

"It wasn't just a few names either. They carved over seven hundred names into my flesh, all of them belonging to victims of the Kyuubi attack."

That fact made all eyes widen, as not even the Hokage knew that there had been _that_ many.

Sasuke then glared at Naruto some more, "As if, nobody could survive that."

"Naruto isn't lying, Sasuke. Ask your sensei, he found Naruto in the alley after he fell out of his window, and carried him to the hospital."

All the Genin looked at Kakashi, "Ah, I found Naruto that night. He had two broken legs and a broken arm, and was bleeding from….well…..everywhere."

"But….why," Sakura asked.

Naruto went silent for a minute, and Tenten, Kakashi and Anko were all wondering if Naruto was actually going to tell them about the fox.

"I was born at the same time the Kyuubi attacked the village," Naruto eventually said. "Just about the whole village hates me for it, as they only see the fox and the loved ones they lost when they see me. It even killed both of my parents, too.

I don't really understand why they hate me so much," he lied, "But they choose to take their anger out on me."

Sasuke kept glaring at Naruto, who then yelled out, "Fine, Teme, I can tell that you still don't believe me, so I'm going to show you something that I have never shown anyone else in my entire life, you don't believe that I was attacked and tortured when I was seven? Well, look at this!"

Naruto then whipped his shirt off, and flipped through some hand signs, muttering the name of some technique under his breath.

Scars began to spread across his skin, crossing and re-crossing all over his body until his chest and back were nothing but scar tissue.

"If I didn't heal really fast, this is what I would look like. This is what I looked like once I stopped bleeding all over the ground. It gets worse, though," Naruto said, as he slightly adjusted his chakra flow, causing the scars to change, and a good portion of them disappeared, revealing those left to be names. He didn't stop with just a few names either. He let his chakra fluctuate, so that all the names were visible for short periods of time. "All of these names were carved into my skin with my own kunai, and every time I was about to pass out from the pain, they stopped and waited for me to recover a little. I was tortured like this for THREE WHOLE HOURS! And then, some passing Chunin interrupted the villagers. The villagers told the Chunin what they were doing, and the Chunin LIT ME ON FIRE!"

Naruto tried to reign in his temper, and succeeded after a few deep breaths. Putting his shirt back on, he turned to the door, "Sasuke, you need to understand. I get it that you hate your brother for killing your family. I probably would too. You just have to understand that you aren't the only one who has lived a hard life. Yeah, your brother killed your family, but at least you had one. I've been alone my whole life. You have no idea what that's like, and I hope to Kami that you never do."

Naruto then turned and left the office, leaving the rest of those present in stunned silence. Well, except for Sasuke. He was stunned, but mostly pissed. He got up to leave, and when asked where he was going, he just grunted out "home" and left.

"But why would those people do that to him?" Sakura asked eventually.

"That isn't even the extent of the burdens that Naruto carries. I can't tell you anything about them, since it isn't my place, but Naruto has lived a life harder than all of ours combined."

"Huh?"

"Naruto has even greater burdens than what he has just shown you. Before you ask, though, I can't tell you anything else about them, and I'm probably telling you too much just by informing you that they exist."

"But why though? Why would the villagers try to kill him like that?"

Sarutobi just sighed. "Their hate is misguided. Like Naruto said, he was born during the Kyuubi attack, and even though he lost both of his parents then, the village still hates him for the fact that he lived and their loved ones didn't. I know it doesn't really make any sense, considering that he was just born, but they still hate him for it."

The room then lapsed into silence, each of the remaining people there digesting what had just been revealed to them. After a few minutes, Sarutobi continued, "Before you all leave, I would like to ask you not to pester Naruto with questions about his past. If you must ask him about it, do it politely, and if he says he doesn't want to talk about it, let it go. If that happens, go about your business, and if he feels like telling you, he will tell you in his own way. You will not force the information out of him. If he does decide to tell you, it is for your ears alone. Do not discuss it with others. If you have questions, either ask him when he is alone, or come here and ask me. If he tells someone else, don't pester them about it either. Are we clear?"

Sakura and Sai both nodded slowly, while Anko, Kakashi, and Tenten just looked at him.

"Alright then, if you want to know more about Naruto's past, start by gaining his trust. The more he trusts you, the more likely he is to tell you about himself. However, should you take what he tells you and try to hurt him with that information in any way whatsoever, you will have to answer to me, understand?"

Kakashi's Genin again nodded their heads, and then Kakashi asked, "What about Sasuke?"

Sarutobi sighed, "He lets his pride run wild. He is so set in his belief that he is better than everyone just because of his family name that he is losing himself to it. I will schedule him to meet with some therapists to see if that will help him, since he apparently has not gotten over what happened to his family."

"Ahh, I'll inform him of what you have in mind then."

"No, Kakashi, don't. I'll do it myself. I just think it will all go smoother that way."

"Alright, is there anything else you wanted us for then, Hokage-sama?"

"No, you're dismissed. Oh, if you run in to Naruto could you tell him that I would like to talk to him some more? I am rather interested in his new hand."

**AN: i know, its been over a month, but I HAVE FINISHED CHAPTER 21! i will post it as soon as i get it back from my beta (if she still is beta-ing for me, im not sure) or by this time next week. so yeah, by 10-19, chapter 21 will be posted.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Storm Ch 21  
**

As soon as they were dismissed, Anko and Tenten immediately went to look for Naruto. After a brief moment to search for his chakra signature, they both leapt off to the top of the Hokage monument, where they found Naruto sitting in top of the Fourth's head, staring out at the village.

When he didn't react to their presence, Anko spoke, "Hey brat, you ok?"

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments, before replying, "No, not really."

"You want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about? He won't understand what I'm trying to tell him unless I tell him about the Kyuubi, and then he'll just hate me for that. All he sees is power. He won't care that I've suffered my whole life for it. He'll just demand that I give it to him."

While he was ranting, Tenten walked up to him, and sat down beside him. It had gotten dark while they were giving their report, and there was only the light of the moon to provide illumination up on the monument. Still, Tenten could see that Naruto was far from being able to put his usual mask of happiness back on.

She was only able to look at him for a few seconds before he turned away from her, not wanting to burden her with his problems.

"Naruto, don't shut us out like this. We want to help you, but until you let us in, there's nothing we can do."

"She's right brat," Anko added quietly, giving her words a rare serious tone. "Ever since I told you two about my sensei, I've been getting nightmares less often, and they're not as bad when they do come. I know you don't want to talk about it, but sometimes you have to go through a little more pain before it can go away."

Naruto, who had turned slightly to listen to Anko, looked back out over the village. He didn't respond for a while, and Anko was starting to think he wouldn't at all. She was just about to tell Tenten that they should leave when he started talking.

"I was having a really bad day that day," he started, "We had a Genjutsu test, and I failed it. Sakura-Chan had told me that she hated me, and I fell in a mud puddle on my way home after class. When I got in my apartment, I forgot to lock the door, and just fell asleep."

He then went on to describe that night, not leaving out any details. By the time he was finished, Tenten was hugging Naruto and sobbing, and Anko was sprawled out behind them, the shock too much even for her. There were tear marks on her cheeks as well, but she wasn't making any noise.

As soon as Anko regained some of her composure, she crawled up to Naruto, and hugged him from behind. He tried to say something, but she cut him off, "No, Naruto, be quiet for a minute. What you just told us is beyond what I thought possible. I'm actually a little ashamed to call myself a ninja of the leaf. What those people did was so wrong I can't think of an appropriate punishment for them. It really says a lot about your character to have experienced that and come out the way you are. I'm glad that you feel comfortable enough around us to tell us things honestly. You just need to remember that we're here, and that we want to help you."

Once she finished speaking, Tenten spoke, "Sensei? Are you ok?"

"What do you mean buns?" Anko asked, letting go of Naruto.

"Uhh… you don't normally say stuff like that, and you've never hugged anyone as far as I know….."

"Heh, don't tell anyone. It's true that I don't normally do things like that, but that doesn't mean I can't. I act like I do in public because that is all that most people expect out of me. They don't see me, just the 'snake whore.' Most of it is an act."

They lapsed into silence for a while until Naruto quietly murmured out, "Thank you."

"No problem, brat. Now, you both need to get home and go to bed. Buns needs to rest, and I want to see what you can do with that hand, whiskers. Meet me at the usual spot by nine tomorrow morning."

Neither Genin grumbled about the training, while they all left the monument. They all headed towards Naruto's apartment, since he was the closest. As they neared it though, Naruto immediately realized that something was wrong with it, because one of the legs to his table was lying on the ground outside the building.

Realizing what it most likely meant, Naruto just hung his head and began to climb the stairs to his apartment, picking up pieces of his furniture as he went, Anko and Tenten right behind him.

"Naruto," Tenten asked.

Naruto just sighed, "Yeah, Ten-Chan?"

"Why are there parts of your furniture out here?"

Anko knew what it was as soon as she saw Naruto pick up the table leg. "Someone probably broke into his apartment while we were gone," she told Tenten.

"What?"

"It's not the first time it's happened. You two don't have to follow me up here, you know…." Naruto trailed off, noticing that their expressions were clearly saying he would have to physically make them leave if he wanted them gone.

He just sighed again, before shifting his armload of pieces so he could make a couple clones. They immediately left, off in search of more of his damaged furniture.

When the trio got to his actual apartment, Naruto just sighed again, not even looking at his busted door or the graffiti on the walls. He just walked over to the remains of his bed and shoved them aside, and began feeling around the floor, until he found a hidden latch. Once he opened it, he reached in and pulled out a small duffle bag, before closing the secret compartment. He was about to walk back out of the apartment when he realized that neither of the girls were following him anymore.

"Uhh…. You two gonna stay here tonight?" he asked.

Tenten was in shock, and Anko was pissed. "How often does this happen?" the Tokujo asked quietly.

"Ehh, not too much, it usually only happens when I'm not here for a couple days in a row. It's ok, though. I'll just sleep in the park tonight, and fix it all after training tomorrow."

"No, you're not. No, stop talking," Anko told the blond, cutting of his protests. "This is what's going to happen, so don't argue with me about it. When I am done talking, you are going to make three clones, and they are going to escort Tenten home. Yes, I know that she doesn't need it, but you are going to do it anyway, and buns here is going to accept it. Once you get home, the clones are going to stay there and help her with whatever she needs. You, whiskers, are going to stay with me tonight. No student of mine is going to be forced to sleep in the fucking park just because some ignorant assholes can't keep their damn opinions to themselves. I'm finished."

Knowing that his sensei wasn't joking, Naruto made three clones, and they began to walk Tenten home. Once they were out of earshot, Anko asked, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

Naruto just looked at her, and in the dim light of the moon filtering in through a broken window, she could see his eyes shining from unshed tears. "I'm fine, sensei," he replied, turning away.

She knew he was lying, but didn't call him on it. "Is there anything else you need from here?"

He just shook his head. "This bag has everything that isn't in my mission bag, so I'm all set."

The two then quietly left the ruined apartment, and headed off to Anko's. When they got to her door, she put her hand on his shoulder before he could touch the door, "Hold on a second. If you touch that door you'll get electrocuted. It's keyed to certain people." Anko then touched the door; simultaneously disarming the trap and unlocking the door, and then entered her apartment. "Here, put your hand here and push some chakra into the door. It will allow the door to recognize your chakra so it won't zap you if you need to come in when the door is locked."

Naruto did as requested, adding his chakra to the 'approved' list.

"I just have the couch at the moment, but it should be better than the ground or a tree branch. Hang on; I'll go get you some blankets." Anko then disappeared into the back of the apartment, leaving Naruto in a bit of a daze in the living room. She came back a short time later with a pillow and some blankets, and dropped them on the couch. "The bathroom is the first door on the left in the hallway. The right door is a storage room, and the other door is my room. Under absolutely no circumstances are you to open my door. I don't care if the apartment is on fire, the Hokage shows up and orders you to, or if we're being invaded, you do not open my door. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Anko just sighed, "Look, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that there's things in there I'm not ready to show to other people yet, ok? I'm sure you have things in that bag you don't want to show off either." She was about to continue, but there was a knock on the door.

"Huh? Who the hell knocks on people's doors at midnight?" Anko mumbled as she and Naruto walked over to the door. When she opened it, her eyes widened, as there were three Naruto clones standing outside her door, and one of them was carrying a sleeping Tenten. Before either Anko or Naruto could question the clones, one just looked at the original Naruto, shook its head sadly, and then dispelled itself, causing the original Naruto to suddenly look at Anko in shock.

"Tenten's apartment was broken into too…. but I shouldn't know that…..I haven't been there…."

"Yes you were. Kage Bunshin transfers their memories back to the original when they dispel. I thought you knew that?"

Naruto just shook his head, "No, I didn't…..but yeah….. Ten-Chan's apartment was broken into while we were gone too…. and I did- I mean, my clone didn't know where else to take her…"

Anko sighed briefly, "No, its fine, you both can stay here for now….. But you'll have to take the floor, since I only have the one couch."

"That's fine, sensei," Naruto replied, as he took Tenten's sleeping form from his clone, allowing it and the other one, who had a purple duffle bag, to safely dispel. He shoved the blankets out of the way, and gently laid Tenten down on the couch, and then covered her with a blanket. He took the pillow, and another blanket, and curled up on the floor a short distance away from the couch.

Anko stood near-by, watching the Genin. She was just about to go to bed herself, when she heard Naruto mutter out, "Arigato, sensei."

She just smiled to herself, before quietly replying, "Don't mention it."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere, Sasuke was pissed. He couldn't believe that the Dobe had more power than he did. He needed it, not the dead last. That moron had no use for the power he had. And to think that he got shot down when he told the Dobe to teach him…. aghhh…..it was infuriating. He thought briefly about what Naruto meant when he said something about having a burden much worse that his own, but dismissed that thought fairly quickly. There was no way in hell that anything had ever happened to Naruto that would compare to having his entire family slaughtered by his brother, even if that bullshit story of being attacked and burned was true. He did admit, though only to himself, that whatever Genjutsu he used to make the scars was very realistic.

Vowing to get revenge for being upstaged by the Dobe, Sasuke headed home to brood before going to bed.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi, meanwhile, was trying to convince Sakura and Sai, (mainly Sakura) that they should wait a while before trying to get close to Naruto.

"If you suddenly start being nice to him, he's going to suspect that you're up to something. In all honesty, I don't expect you to get close enough to Naruto for him to tell you about his burdens for a rather long time."

"But you know about them, don't you sensei? Sakura asked, almost begging, "Can't you tell us something about them?"

"I do know about his burdens, some more than others, but I can't tell you anything about them. It's not my place. How would you feel if you found out that someone you trusted was telling your secrets without your consent? If you have questions after he tells you, I will be more than happy to answer you then, but until that actually happens, there's nothing more I can tell you, except to give him some space. If you truly care about him, let him come to you. It may take a while, but he will eventually come to you and ask you if you have questions about what was discussed tonight. Don't talk about what happened with other people, either. Sakura, that means you. I don't want to find out about this from some gossip later on."

"But what about Sasuke-kun," Sakura asked.

"Sasuke has his own problems. I would suggest not talking to him about this either. He doesn't seem to be taking it well. If that's all, I suggest that you both go home and get some rest. Training resumes tomorrow."

**AN: wow...this only took forever to get done... but its here now, so be happy. i also realize its kind of short, but i ran out of things to add in this chapter. i also have no real excuse as to why it took so long for me to write, so feel free to complain about it, though i would prefer you do it in a humorous way, so i can laugh at your comments, while recovering from beating my head against the wall in punishment for my lateness.**

**AN2: im taking suggestions as to who i should pair anko with. i wont necessairily use any of the people you suggest, but then again i might. in case you didnt pick up on it, anko is bi in this story, so feel free to suggest whoever you want, though they must be in konoha right now. im currently leaning towards kurenai, but i may change my mind. **

**anyway, if it takes me another month and a half or however long it was to update again, im just going to shoot myself instead. or maybe ill let tenten use me as a kunai target. not sure which yet...**

**AN3: i have decided it. naruto will not learn the hiraishin in this fic. i just had the brilliant idea of something much more original, (and to my knowledge it hasnt been done yet at all, though i could be mistaken). i mean, the hiraishin no jutsu (flying thunder god) is some hot shit, but if jiraiya couldnt learn it, how the hell could naruto? i mean, he can learn almost anything, but he always has some type of instruction. with just a seal on the handle of a kunai(if any still exist) i just dont think he could figure it out.**

**AN4: im looking for suggestions on what questions sarutobi should ask naruto about his chakra hand. its just proving too difficult to think up questions about something i already know about. i will give credit to anyone whos questions i use. think of this as an opportunity to get all your questions about the hand answered, and if i dont use your questions in the story, i will still answer them, so ask away!  
**


	22. Chapter 22

**Storm Ch 22**

The next day dawned like any other. The sun rose in the eastern sky, the birds were chirping, and kids were outside playing. The villagers went about their daily lives as if nothing had happened the night before.

The living room of the apartment of Mitarashi Anko, however, was another story. Anko had woken up to find Naruto and Tenten sitting on the floor right in front of her couch. Well, Naruto was sitting. Tenten was asleep while leaning on Naruto, though it was evident that she had cried herself to sleep again.

"Good morning, sensei," Naruto called quietly.

"Yeah, you too," Anko replied, talking low so as not to wake Tenten. "Did you sleep ok?"

"Not really. Ten-Chan kept having nightmares."

Anko just sighed. "Alright, I'll make us some breakfast, and then we can go see what we can salvage, ok?"

Naruto just nodded his head a little, and moved his arm to restore some of the circulation in it.

Xxxxxxxxxx

After Anko had finished making breakfast, Naruto gently nudged Tenten to wake her up.

"Hey, Ten-Chan, it's time to wake up," Naruto said quietly.

Tenten just grunted a little and snuggled deeper into his shoulder.

"Come on Ten-Chan, sensei even made breakfast."

"Mmmmmmmmhhhhhhmmmmmm….. I don' wanna….." she mumbled out.

"I know…..but it's time," Naruto said, as he stood the both of them up. He hesitated for a moment, before adding, "We gotta go check our apartments today."

Upon hearing that, Tenten stiffened slightly, before going limp. "So that….really happened, then…."

Naruto just guided her over to the table. "Yeah….. It really happened," he replied quietly. "I'm sorry."

Tenten and Anko both looked at him, and he continued, "I'm the reason they trashed your apartment, Ten-Chan. I'm the reason that old fart called you a whore that one day, and I'm the reason you no longer have a place to live."

Naruto would've kept going, but Anko cut him off. "Hold it brat. Nobody is blaming you. You didn't break into her apartment. You didn't tell the stupid villagers to break into her apartment. You didn't tell that old bastard to call her a whore. Besides, whoever said that she has nowhere to live?"

"But her apartment is trashed worse than mine is!" Naruto protested weakly.

"You both should've realized it by now, but you're welcome to stay here. Now that it's daylight, I can move some stuff in the storage room, if I have to," Anko said quietly, while staring at the floor.

Naruto and Tenten were about to protest, but when Anko looked up at them, they both fell silent, as she kept speaking. "I know how you feel right now," she said, before looking back at the floor. "After I was abandoned by that bastard, I was alone in the village. My apartment was trashed and vandalized several times. Even changing apartments didn't help. All that did was slow them down for a week or so." Noticing that Tenten was looking even more depressed, she said, "But I didn't give in. I held myself up as best I could, and carried on with my life. Eventually the villagers tired of their activities, and they left me alone. What I guess I'm trying to say is to try and not let it get to you. If the villagers or whoever think that they're getting to you, they'll just do it more. If they think that what their doing isn't working, they'll stop."

Tenten just sat there for a while, before murmuring out, "I guess…"

A smile ghosted its way across Anko's face. "Alright then, after breakfast, we'll go see what we can find."

Xxxxxxxxxx

When the trio got to Naruto's apartment, Naruto immediately ignored all the broken furniture and such and went straight for his bedroom closet. He chucked all the stuff that was in it out of his way, and then pulled a small necklace out of his shirt. On it was a small key, and he used it to unlock another hidden compartment in his former home. A portion of the wall came away to reveal a small cabinet worth of space, and it was full of basic ninja equipment. He quickly gathered it all up, and then turned to leave, but stopped as he almost stepped on something.

He bent down and picked it up, revealing his team photo. The glass was shattered and the frame about to fall apart, but the photo itself was still in decent shape. He quietly pulled the picture out of its damaged housing, and placed it carefully in one of his jackets inner pockets.

He then made a couple Kage Bunshins to continue looking for odds and ends in the wreckage before leaving with Anko and Tenten to check out her apartment.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto knew that her apartment was trashed, but he didn't realize how bad in the dark. Due to the fact that Tenten had a lot more stuff in her apartment than he did, there were a lot more things to destroy, and more mess to make.

When they got inside, Naruto and Anko both directed Tenten to her bedroom, while Naruto made more clones to sort through what was left. It didn't take them long to realize that all her furniture was toast.

Tenten, though, was having a much more difficult time. She hadn't been expecting her apartment to be vandalized, so she hadn't prepared for it. Most of her important belongings were broken or destroyed, including her team photo. Her bed was shredded, along with all of her clothes. Everything she had was gone.

Obviously overwhelmed, she just collapsed to the floor sobbing. Anko quickly made her way into the girl's room, and pulled her into an awkward hug, Naruto following close behind her.

"At least you two have each other….and me, I guess…." Anko murmured out, not really paying attention.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Oh? I was just thinking that you two at least have others to depend on right now. I went through this with just the Hokage to help me. Speaking of which, he wanted to talk to you about your hand, Naruto. I think he had some more questions about it."

"Oh, ok. I'll go see him later today. Did Jii-Chan say anything about what kind of questions?"

"No, but he probably just wants to know how it works and stuff like that. Anyway, Buns, when this was happening to me the only person who I had to go to was the Hokage. You two have each other and me and the Hokage. Ok?"

Once Tenten got her breathing under control, she nodded a little and slowly stood up.

"It's just hard…..to see everything you hold dear….destroyed like this…. I mean I've got nothing now. I don't even have any clothes to wear…"

They were silent for a moment, until Anko said, "You still have your life, and those close to you. That is what's most important. All this," she said, waving her arm around, "can be replaced. People can't. I know that it hurts, seeing all your important things destroyed like this…..but you'll get new ones. You still remember them, and as long as you do, they're never truly gone."

Naruto then stiffened slightly, before shaking his head, and muttered, "Damn…. They even ripped my fridge apart….."

That made Anko chuckle a bit, and then the Toku Jounin said, "Alright, let's go eat. After lunch, I have some strategy exercises for the two of you, and then we'll go see the Hokage. Any questions?"

"What are you going to do sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I'm gonna work out, and you're gonna help me. When we get to the training field, you're gonna summon about half of the max amount of Kage Bunshin you can, and then make five more every minute until I say so or until you pass out, while you do the strategy exercises. Understand?"

"Uhh, yeah…. But why so many?"

"I want a full workout. You're gonna make clones, and I'm going to kill clones. This will also help you concentrate when your clones get dispelled, so that the new memories don't disorient you or anything."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Lunch was a quiet affair, with Naruto and Tenten still trying to sort out their feelings, and Anko giving them space to do so.

Once they finished, they made their way to their training ground, and Anko had them sit down near the fence so that they would be out of her way, before pulling a large scroll out of her coat.

"Ok, there are several standard scenario exercises on this scroll. I want you two to come up with a few different answers for each one. The first needs to include all three of us, the second to be just you two, and the third is just you alone. Oh, and assume that you're all healed up, buns.

Now, about those clones…."

"Right….." Just before Naruto made his clones, though, a voice spoke up from the back of his head.

"**You do know that with my chakra you can make several thousand clones, right?"**

"_I can? Awesome!"_

"**You better ask your sensei how many she's looking for. Otherwise you may end up killing her."**

"Uhhh, sensei? How many clones do you want? Kyu-Chan says that I can make several thousand…."

"Ohh…uhhh…..just…use your chakra right now…ok?"

"Ok sensei. Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Once the smoke cleared, there were around seventy or so Naruto clones. Anko looked over the crowd, and after putting up an earth wall next to the original Naruto and Tenten, she nodded to the clones, and they all went on the attack.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto and Tenten then rolled open the scroll, and immediately groaned.

"Mid Chunin level this time…ugh."

"Well, at least the individual ones should be easy; since I'm sure most of them will be to run."

"What? I'm not gonna run from some Chunin Ten-Chan!"

"Not even if you're injured, almost out of chakra, and up against at least seven other opponents?" Tenten replied while looking down at the first scenario.

"Oh… then yeah…. I guess I'd have to run."

Xxxxxxxxxx

This continued for almost three hours, until Anko finally collapsed.

"Alright brat…..no…more….. I'm wiped."

Hearing that, Naruto and Tenten stuck their heads over the wall Anko made and looked out at their training field. They barely recognized it. What had once been a grassy field was now bare dirt and full of craters, with some logs scattered around. Anko was sitting against one of the larger ones, and looked terrible.

Her trench coat was mostly gone below her waist, the sleeves were destroyed, and her hair was down, the tie having fallen out at some point. Her arms and legs were covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises.

"Wow sensei… you look terrible. What happened?"

Anko just blew some of the hair out of her face and glared at them.

"You happened, brat. Now help me up and take me to my apartment. I gotta get cleaned up before we go see the Hokage."

Naruto and Tenten just gaped at their sensei for a few seconds, before hoisting her up, and headed off to Anko's apartment.

**AN: i really have no excuse as to why my updates take so long...but, thats not the point of this AN. i need help. the next chapter will have naruto and sarutobi's conversation about naruto's new hand, and i dont have any idea what kind of questions to have sarutobi ask. what i need you readers to do is give me ideas for questions. or ask your own questions. its just hard for me to ask questions to myself about something i already know...**

**oh, and im sorry if the chapter sucks. the first half was written like three weeks before the rest of it, so it probably doesnt flow very well.  
**


	23. Chapter 23

**Storm Ch 23** **edit**

Once they got back to the apartment, Anko limped off to the shower, and Naruto and Tenten dropped onto the couch to wait for her.

"So what do you think Hokage-Sama is going to ask you about your new hand?" Tenten asked once they were seated.

"I don't know. Probably just stuff like what sensei was talking about earlier, how it works and stuff like that," Naruto replied.

Xxxxxxxxxx

They spent about twenty minutes waiting for Anko to clean herself up, and when she emerged from her shower, the two Genin could barely tell that she had barely been able to stand a short time ago.

"Ready brats?" she asked the two of them.

"Hai sensei," they both replied, as they stood up.

The trio quickly made their way to the Hokage Tower, and was immediately let into the old man's office.

"Hey Jii-Chan," Naruto called out as they entered the office.

"Ah, hello Naruto-Kun," replied Sarutobi, "how are you today?"

Had Sarutobi not known Naruto as well as he did, he would probably have missed the almost imperceptible tightening of Naruto's jaw, as well as his eyes narrowing the slight bit that they did right before the young ninja replied, "Pretty good, Jii-Chan."

However, the old Hokage caught the signs, though he really didn't need to. Tenten's body language was practically screaming out that something bad had happened to her recently, and he could tell that Anko wasn't in top form at the moment either.

Turning away from Naruto, Sarutobi looked at Anko, who promptly answered the unasked question.

"They aren't really going that great. Both of their apartments were broken into and destroyed. They're staying with me at the moment, but they have basically nothing left."

The Hokage's heart plummeted at the news. He really couldn't believe what made the people of his village decide to do things like that. He sighed heavily, before replying with, "I'm sorry; sorrier than you can imagine that this has happened to the two of you." He then looked at the two Genin, and they could both see the tears in his eyes. "I'm sure both of your parents are rolling in their graves right now….and it pains me to no end knowing that I have failed them. When you were born, Naruto, I passed a series of laws to protect you from the hate of the villagers. I don't think I really need to say that they didn't work as well as I had hoped."

The old Hokage then did something that surprised all those present in the office. He got up out of his chair, walked around the desk, and crouched in front of Naruto and Tenten. He pulled the hat off his head, and set it on the desk behind him. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and quietly said, "Can you forgive an old man for his mistakes?"

Anko looked on in shock; this was not how she expected this meeting to turn out. Her shock could only grow, then, as Naruto flung his arms around the old man, with Tenten following quickly behind him, albeit a little more hesitantly. The Hokage held the two children for a few minutes, and then slowly leaned away from them. Anko could see the light reflecting off the tear streaks on all three of their faces, and part of her realized that it was the first time she had seen Naruto cry.

"Now then," the old Hokage said as he stood up, "I believe this meeting was called for a much less depressing topic. What can you tell me about that hand of yours, Naruto?"

"Uhhh…..what do you want to know?" he asked, after taking a couple breaths to gain some control over is emotions.

"Whatever you can tell me. In all my years alive I have never seen anything like this before."

"Well, I don't really know that much about it yet. I know that it has something to do with Kyu-Chan's chakra, and that I can push it through stuff, but that's it really."

"What do you mean by 'it has something to do with Kyuubi's chakra'?"

"Well, when we were on the way back to the village, whenever I got angry it turned red, instead of the normal bluish color," Naruto replied, while holding his left hand up for all to see.

"**That's because you channel minute amounts of my chakra whenever you're angry kit. That hand of yours is like a visible part of your chakra network. When you saw it turning red, the rest of your chakra network looked the same as your hand did."**

"Oh, Kyu-Chan says that it just looks the way it does because it's made of my chakra. She says that when I get angry, the rest of my chakra looks like that too. Kind of like a mood ring or something I guess."

"Huh…" Sarutobi replied. "Well, what have you done with it so far? I suppose that we can make some general assumptions about what it can do based on what you've already done with it."

Naruto replied, "Well, I pulled the busted pieces of Ten-Chan's sword out of her with it, and stopped Zabuza's zanbato from chopping me in half, but that's just about it. I mean, I can make it go through stuff really easy, but it's really hard to make my hand be solid enough to touch things with it."

"Have you found anything it can't pass through?"

"Uhh… I don't think so….but it was a lot harder to make it go through my forehead protector," Naruto replied, glaring at his ghostly appendage, "Why? What does that mean?"

"Well, I've got a bit of an idea; at least for this part of it. Unlike most steel, the plate on Konoha's forehead protector is made out of a special Chakra Steel. I won't bore you with the few details I have on how it's made, but it is exposed to a rather large amount of chakra in the process of making it. Its one of the reasons they last so long.

Anyway, that process causes some chakra to remain in the steel. I think that it is the residual chakra that makes it difficult for you to push your hand through your forehead protector. It's probably part of the reason you were able to stop Zabuza's zanbato as well. I can't imagine that a swordsman of his caliber wouldn't have chakra in his sword.

I would also hazard a guess that if there was a dense enough piece of chakra steel you wouldn't be able to push your hand through it at all.

I suppose the next question I have is if you can feel anything with it."

Naruto's face scrunched up in thought for a few seconds, as he poked at the desk in front of him. "Yeah, I can feel stuff, I guess, but it doesn't feel the same as it did before."

Sarutobi looked at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, whenever my hand is going through something it feels kind of tingly, like it's asleep or something, and if I'm just touching something it feels like I'm wearing gloves that are too small, or something like that anyway. I can't really describe it any more than that."

"It's ok, Naruto-Kun, I think I understand what you're trying to say. What you have there is truly remarkable. It almost defies the laws of physics; and now that I think about it, it probably does. That part about it showing the state of your chakra system might be a problem, though. I'm sure by now you know that it isn't 'normal' for a persons chakra system to turn red when they get angry, so I guess if you don't want anyone to ask questions about it I would either keep it 'turned off' or wear some gloves around so people who don't know about the fox find out."

"I tried gloves on the way back; they don't work. My hand keeps going through them. I have to concentrate way too much to keep it inside the glove," Naruto replied glumly.

The four ninja's hung their heads in defeat for a few seconds, until the beginnings of an idea began to stir in Anko's head. She lifted her gaze, until it met with her leader.

"Well, that might work," she muttered, "if you did it like that…and then put that over that….. Hokage-sama, is it possible to get chakra steel in wire form?"

"Yes, all ninja wire is made of chakra steel."

"No, I don't mean that. Well, kind of. I just had the thought of making the brat a glove out of some high-density chakra wire. That should make it so he doesn't have to concentrate so much on keeping his hand from phasing through the glove, and if it were to have a normal glove over it nobody would be able to tell the difference. It would just take some very high density wire; regular ninja wire just isn't high enough."

"How do you know that?" the Hokage asked.

As soon as the question was asked, Naruto and Tenten glared at Anko, who had a light dusting of pink across her cheeks.

"Ehh…well, on the way back from wave, the Genin got into an argument over something stupid, and Kakashi and I got sick of listening to it so we kinda…..well….. ," she belted out, looking rather embarrassed.

Sarutobi just hung his head, sighing. "And how did that work out?"

"Sasuke got out of it using a Wire Escape Jutsu pretty quickly, and Naruto just let his hand phase through it until his arm was free, and then he grabbed one of pinky's kunai and cut though it, releasing the rest of them."

"How long did it take for them to get out?"

"Well, Sasuke took about a minute, and Naruto took about five, I think. I was enjoying the silence so much I wasn't really paying attention to the time."

Sarutobi just shook his head. "I….. No, you know what? I don't even want to know."

Silence reigned for about a minute, while Sarutobi moved some papers around on his desk, until he told Naruto and Tenten to go wait outside his office for a minute. Once the door closed behind them, he asked, "So what do want to do?"

All visible traces of joy instantly slid off Anko's face. "I don't really know," she said quietly, "but I don't think that they should go back to living alone. Tenten is still in shock, I think, and I'm almost certain that the brat is just burying his feelings. I don't think he realizes that I know, though, since he tries so hard to show everyone that he's happy all the time.

He's actually starting to let his guard down around us when we're training, letting us see the real him, and I'm afraid that if he stays on his own after this that he'll close himself off again. Tenten, on the other hand, needs someone to be there to support her while she works through everything."

"They're not the only ones who need the help, Anko. I think helping them will help you finally finish coming to terms with your past, as well. I could tell that day when Naruto told Tenten about the fox; you seemed more relaxed than usual, and I'm willing to bet that it was because you told them about your past, and they didn't shun you for it."

It went quiet again, until Sarutobi resumed speaking, "You know that if you want this to work you're going to have to tell them certain things that you haven't told them yet, right?"

Anko just hung her head, in shame and embarrassment. Her boss was basically telling her that she needed to tell her students about her 'preferences.' He was also insinuating that she tell them about her still somewhat active position in the ANBU torture and interrogation division. Well, a little about it, anyway. What ANBU do _is_ classified, after all.

"So you want them both to stay with you, then?" Sarutobi prompted after a few moments.

"If they want to stay with me, then yes, that is what I would like. If not, well, that's up to them."

"Alright, I'll draw up the paperwork for it then. Come back in a couple days and we can settle it then, ok? You'll have to become a pseudo-legal guardian of them, after a fashion, but I don't think that anyone will mind."

"No, that's ok with me. Was there anything else you needed?"

"No, Anko, I think that was all. I'll look into that wire for you as well, and let you know if I find anything."

Anko bowed to the Hokage, and then quietly left the office, shutting the door behind her she motioned to her brats, and they returned to her apartment.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Once they got there, Anko vanished off to go digging through some of the boxes she had in her storage room, and soon returned with a small box, which she placed on the table in front of the Genin.

"On the way back from the Hokage's office, I had another idea. Ever since our team was formed, I've been trying to figure out what kind of team it is, and I think I've figured it out. Or, rather, I've figured out what it can be, if you want to go that way. What I am proposing is turning this team into an infiltration/assassination team. You don't have to go that way if you don't want to; I just think that it would work."

"Don't you think that it's kind of soon to be deciding these kinds of things?" Tenten asked, "I mean Naruto and I don't even have a place to live right now."

Anko flinched back, not enough for the Genin to notice, but enough for her to notice. Casting her eyes to the floor, she leaned against the wall, "I told you both before, you're both welcome to stay here, with me an-." She said, before viciously snapping her mouth shut. She hoped the Genin would miss her slip, but she wasn't that lucky.

"Huh? What do you mean me and? You don't live here by yourself?"

Anko sighed, "No, I don't. The person I live with is away on a mission right now. They should be back in a few days. If you both decide to stay here with me, I will introduce you then. Otherwise, I will introduce you at another time I feel appropriate. Ok?"

"If we do decide to become an infiltration and….assassination team, what exactly would you be teaching us?"

"Well, it would start with stealth exercises, and by that I mean old-school stealth. Then it would be basic infiltration, how to sneak into buildings and things like that. Other things would include wilderness survival, disguise, assassination methods, body disposal, escape methods, interrogation techniques, everything you would need to know. I'll let you both sleep on it, ok? In the mean time, I want you both to try this," she said, while pulling an item out of the box she brought out.

It was a clear plastic model of a standard door lock, with all the pins and internals visible. She also pulled out an instruction manual for basic lock picking.

"I want you both to try and pick that lock, while I go and clear out the storage room. That book should tell you everything you need, and if not, come ask me, ok brats?"

Anko didn't even bother waiting for their response, instead choosing to just go back into the storage room, while Naruto and Tenten both looked at each other, the lock, the book, and back to each other, before sighing, and picking the book up.

It was going to be a long night.


	24. Chapter 24

**Storm Ch 24**

Sighing, both genin looked at the book, titled "A shinobi's guide to basic lock picking."

"Really? They couldn't come up with a better title?"

"Ehh, the title isn't important. Just open it."

"Oh fine. It says, 'It should be first noted that picking a lock is not the fastest way to get past one. It is almost always faster to go around the lock, rather than through it. _However, these methods make it plainly obvious that you have been there. Nothing says 'Hey I stole your stuff' better than a kicked-in door, a melted safe, or a broken window._ Picking the lock, while not a very fast method of entry, is the next best thing to having the actual key. It's quiet, and, if done right, doesn't leave behind any signs of having been performed.'

"Well duh. Come on, skip to the good part."

"Alright. 'Carrying lock picks provides another advantage, as the picks themselves can be used as a stabbing weapon if a more suitable one is not readily available.'"

Naruto and Tenten just gaped at that statement. "Sensei," Naruto called out, "I think this book is full of crap. It actually pointed out that you can stab someone with the lock picks."

"You'd be surprised at how often you miss things like that," Anko replied from the storage room, "More than once I've had to resort to what was on scene to defend myself. I've killed people with pens, pencils, chopsticks, spoons; I even killed one guy with an ice-cube tray."

"What? No way. How the hell do you kill somebody with an ice-cube tray?"

"I smashed it into the guy's throat. One of my friends has one even better than that. They got one guy with the lid to a toilet tank. You might want to remember some of those. If you can reach it and swing it, then it's a weapon. Office supplies, furniture, sticks, rocks, even dirt can be used as a weapon."

"Right," Naruto and Tenten both declared, before turning back to the now not-so-full-of-crap instruction book.

Xxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, both genin thought themselves pretty proficient at picking the lock they had been given, as they could each open it in about five seconds. When they voiced this to Anko, she came out to watch them do it, and after seeing them do it multiple times, she gave them their next lock.

"Alright, this one is next," she told them, as she set it down on the table. "It's just like the last one, but now you won't be able to see what you're doing. You shouldn't have much more trouble with this one, even though you can't see inside of it. Anyway, I'm almost done, so you should have a bed tonight, buns."

"Thank you, sensei."

"Ehh, don't worry about it. It's the least I could do, really. Now, get to that lock."

Tenten just mumbled a few curses under her breath, but still turned her attention to the new lock that they had been given.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"AH! THIS IS POINTLESS!" Naruto screamed out after half an hour with the new lock.

"Why are you having so much trouble with it Naruto? It has the same parts as the other one does," Tenten replied. "It shouldn't really be much harder."

"I can't do it when I can't see what I'm doing, ok? I don't know why; I just can't."

Anko quietly stuck her head out of the storage room to see what the problem was, but didn't start speaking right away, instead choosing to see if her brats could figure it out themselves.

She was just about to go help them when Tenten asked, "What if you try it like this?" while showing him her idea.

"I tried that already. The damn picks keep going through my hand," Naruto replied. He then glared down at his ghostly palm, "Stupid thing…can't do anything with it…"

"**That wasn't very nice, brat. You can too do things with it, if you focus right. If you concentrate enough, you can probably even open that lock just by phasing your hand into it."**

'_You really think that will work?'_

"**It really shouldn't be all that different than when you removed the sword fragments from that girl. Same concept really. Just place your hand in the lock and concentrate on having your chakra move the little thingies inside of it."**

'_Thingies? You must mean the stupid pins. You honestly think it'll work?'_

"Naruto?" Tenten asked, having noticed that he wasn't paying any attention to her. "You ok?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Kyu-chan had an idea, hold on a sec."

"**Yes. I am almost certain that it will work, as long as you can focus your chakra enough to tell the difference between the knob and those pins."**

'_Well, here goes…'_

Tenten looked at Naruto for a moment, before quietly asking, "What was her idea, Naruto?"

Naruto and Anko both noticed the change in tone of her voice, and while Naruto didn't know what it meant, Anko realized that it was stemming from Tenten's hatred of the fox.

"Well," Naruto began, "her idea was to just use my chakra hand, instead of the lock picks. She thinks that I can just stick my hand in the lock and use my chakra to move the pins. Kinda like how I moved your sword parts, I guess."

This caught Anko's full attention. She immediately went back out to the table to see if this would work. "Oi, brat, try it on the clear one first. We might be able to help you if we can see what you're doing."

"You really think it can work sensei?"

"Brat, when it comes to you, I'm starting to think that anything is possible."

"Ok…well, here goes," Naruto said as he pushed his hand into the lock, focusing intently on it. Once he got it in all the way, he tried to figure out where the pins were in relation to the parts of his hand.

"Oi brat, slow down. You're making all the pins bounce. Just pick one and start there."

"I'm trying. I still can't tell which one is which. Wait…. I think I got one. Which one is it?"

"Huh? You can't tell?"

"No," replied Naruto. "I had my eyes closed. It helps me concentrate."

"Oh, ok. That's kinda odd, I think, but it will help you to get used to doing this without being able to see the pins. Start again, and I'll tell you when you get one."

Naruto closed his eyes again, and concentrated on finding the pins.

"Ok, I think I got one."

"Yeah, you got one. It's the middle one though. Go in a little farther."

Xxxxxxxxxx

After about a half hour, Naruto finally managed to unlock the lock.

"Brat, do you have any idea what this means?"

"Huh?"

"If you can practice this enough so that you can do it in a couple seconds, you could potentially become one of the best infiltrators ever. Using lock picks takes time, even for the best. It's also kind of hard to disguise yourself while doing it.

You, on the other hand, will be able to just put your hand on it. Much easier to disguise. Also there is less chance of you leaving evidence of your presence behind. There won't be any scratches or anything on the lock since you don't need to use any tools. It also means that you don't have to carry the damn tools in the first place. You wouldn't be limited by their availability. You would be able to unlock your own restraints too, so long as you can reach the lock."

"That's cool…..but this is so damn boring!" Naruto exclaimed.

Anko just hung her head. She then sighed heavily, before turning to Tenten, "I'm pretty much done in the extra room, so feel free if you're tired. Just don't mess with the boxes that are still in the corner. That stuff isn't mine, and I don't remember what the other person who lives here put in them. Ok?"

Tenten's breath hitched slightly at the reminder of her housing situation, but nodded quickly, before yawning. She smiled slightly, and then replied, "Thank you sensei. I think I'll go to bed now."

"Night Ten-chan."

"Goodnight, buns."

Tenten just bowed slightly, and went into the room, closing the door behind her.

Xxxxxxxxxx

It was quiet for a while after Tenten left the table, and just as Naruto was about to get up, Anko spoke.

"You know that both me and buns are here, right?" she asked quietly.

"Huh? What do you mean sensei?"

Anko gave him a flat look, "You know what I mean."

Naruto's face fell, clearly showing that he knew exactly what she meant. "I know."

"Then why don't you talk to us? I know that you like to bottle up your bad feelings, but it isn't good for you to do that for very long. You need to let them out, or they will let themselves out, and it will happen at the worst possible time."

"They're my problems though; you two shouldn't have to deal with them," he replied.

"You're right. They are your problems." Naruto looked up at her in shock, not believing she had just said that. He was about to protest, but stopped when Anko held up her hand. "No, just wait a minute. Yes, they _are_ your problems, but that doesn't mean that they affect only you."

A dark look fell over Naruto's face, and Anko knew he was remembering all the times other people were glared at or insulted because they chose to associate themselves with the demon container.

"Hey, look at me. I'm not blaming you for any of that. I'm just trying to say that you aren't alone. You are our friend. We want to help you with your problems, just like you want to help us with ours. That's what friends do. You have to tell us how to help you though. We're not psychic. Well, those of us who aren't Yamanaka anyway. We can't tell what you're thinking.

"But-"

"No buts brat. You have issues with the fact that many of the villagers hate you for something you cannot control, and you hate the fact that those same people hate your friends simply because they are your friends. I get that," Anko continued, but her voice was dropping, almost becoming a whisper. "I know exactly how you feel right now. I had to endure the same kinds of things you are enduring. The glares, the comments that they think I can't hear, the cold attitudes…. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here, and so is Tenten, ok?"

Naruto nodded his head after a short pause, but didn't look at Anko.

"Get some rest, ok? We got a long day tomorrow."

**AN: im sorry this took so long, im sorry its short, and im sorry that its kinda technical. it wouldve been up yesterday, but , in all its infinite wisdom, was broken (again) and whenever i tried to upload the chapter, it just froze. **

**anyway, its here now. thats what matters. another reason it took so long is that this chapter, and probably the next couple, are kind of in between major events, what with wave being over and the chunin exams coming up. i've had a few good ideas on ways to change up the exams, since reading up on them when theyre the same all the time is really kinda boring.**

**if anyone notices that the tone of the chapter changed early on, thats because it probably did. until a couple days ago, i had only written to the second page break. that bit i wrote in march.**

**oh, and the bit about using random objects to kill people with was inspired by me reading some crack fics, whose names escape me right now. they got me to think waaay outside the box, and this is the result. maybe there was some kind of action movie going on in the background, i really cant recall.  
**


	25. Chapter 25

**Here's the next chapter, and it's a long one too. Hopefully it will make up for the last one being so short.**

**Storm Ch 25**

Despite the fact that he was exhausted, Naruto didn't fall into a very deep sleep, so when someone started opening the door at half past eight the next morning, it didn't take long for him to wake up.

What he saw was difficult to understand. The only thing his still sleeping mind could readily tell about the thing that just opened the door was that it was a person. After about a minute of them just staring at each other, Naruto had woken up enough to realize that they were covered with mud from head to toe, and that they seemed just as shocked at his presence as he was at theirs.

"Um, hello," the person replied, the tones of their voice implying that they were female.

"Hi," Naruto replied, "I, uh, don't mean to sound mean or anything, but who are you and why are you here?"

The muddy woman just stared at him for a second, and then replied, "I could ask you the same thing."

Naruto was about to make some reply when he heard something break behind him, followed by howling laughter. Both he and the mysterious mud girl turned to see Anko, who was wearing only a bathrobe, rolling around the floor laughing her ass off.

Despite his confusion, Naruto could sense that the muddy woman wasn't real happy with his sensei, especially since she was now glaring at said teacher with her hands on her hips.

"Wha' the hell's that noise?" a disgruntled voice added from the short hallway. "Who's that?"

"I don't know, Ten-chan. She just showed up here a minute ago, and as soon as sensei saw her she started….well, that," he said, as he pointed to Anko, who was just now managing to stand back up.

"What the hell happened to you?" Anko eventually stammered out between some marginally suppressed laughs.

The mud woman just kept glaring at Anko. "The merchant Ryuunosuke is what happened to me. That pompous, overweight moron decided that it would be a good idea to take his cart, which was severely overloaded, across some broken down bridge on the way to…" the woman paused, obviously trying to remember where she was supposed to be escorting that merchant to, "Uh, whatever that village is called where you got that one guy with the ice cube tray, with out letting me or my team check it first, and the whole damn cart fell into the river. It gets better though, since Ryuunosuke made us go retrieve his goods, which had somehow washed up a couple miles down stream. In a swamp. Filled with some kind of chakra sensitive mushroom that gave off some really nasty spores whenever we used chakra too close to them. We spent the rest of the day getting his goods back to his cart, and then he had the gall to accuse us of wasting his time! I got so pissed at him that I cancelled the mission right then and there and we came back here. We got back around midnight, and the Hokage spent from then till now lecturing me that what I did wasn't the right thing to do."

While she had been talking, the woman had been trying (rather unsuccessfully) to rid her of the several dozen pounds of mud coating her person. She had, though, managed to clear some from her face, and a little from her hair, although neither of the gennin could tell what color it was supposed to be.

"By the way, why are your genin sleeping in our apartment?"

Anko's snickering tapered off rather abruptly when the mud woman asked that, and went quiet for a moment.

Naruto just sighed, and said, "It's my fau-"

"No, it isn't, brat, so stop trying to say that it is," she then turned to the pile of mud in the doorway. "Some dumbass villagers trashed their apartments while we were backing up Kakashi-no-baka in wave, and since we just got back a few days ago, they haven't had a chance to arrange for anything else yet."

"Uh huh. How long they planning on staying?"

"Haven't really figured that part out yet."

The muddy woman then leaned in close to Anko, and spoke in her ear so as not to let Naruto hear what she was saying. "Are you sure you're ok with this? I mean, it won't take them more than five minutes to figure us out once they wake up all the way."

Anko took a deep breath, and let it out quickly. "Yeah, I'm about as ready as I'm going to get, and with the things I'm trying to do for them right now it would've come up pretty soon anyway. At least this way it's on my terms and not someone else's. What about you though? Are you ok with telling them? It affects you too, so you get a say in this just as much as I do."

"Yeah. I'm ok with it, as long as they don't go around screaming about it. That's the main reason I haven't told my team yet. Well, that and it's really none of their business. If your genin are staying here, though, they should know what they're getting in to."

"Alright. We'll tell them after you get cleaned up, since if you stand here any longer I'm going to have to hire another bunch of brats to clean the swamp out of the doorway."

The mud woman just smacked Anko in the side of the head with her muddy hand and then stalked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Anko, in turn, glared at the bathroom door, until she heard Naruto leaning over the back of the couch, trying to stifle his own laughter.

"What?"

Naruto just pointed at her, still trying to bury his laughter. Anko started looking over her shoulders and behind her, trying to figure out what he was laughing at, until she reached up to itch her cheek. As soon as she realized that the itch was caused by mud, she looked in the mirror by the front door and realized that when she had been smacked, an almost perfect handprint in mud was left on the side of her head.

She then whipped her head around to glare at her genin, "Shut up. I don't want to hear it."

Anko then proceeded to stalk into the kitchen, where she turned the hot water on full blast, sending a burst of icy water on the woman in the shower, who Naruto heard scream out, "Anko! I'm going to kill you!"

Chuckling at the comment from her house-mate, Anko turned down the hot water in the sink and began to wash the mud off the side of her face.

Xxxxxxxxxx

A short while later, Tenten came out of her room, and Anko went about checking her wound. Nothing looked wrong with it, and Anko helped the genin wrap it in fresh bandages.

"You look pretty good, buns. Couple more days and you'll be good to go."

"Thanks, sensei."

"So when are you going to tell us who that was?" Naruto asked, gesturing towards the shower.

"When she's done cleaning herself up. I also have some things I would like to ask you, but that has to wait until after the introductions."

"Huh?"

"Just sit tight for a little while and it will all make sense, I promise." Anko was using that rare serious tone, and both of her genin knew that she meant what she was saying.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Once the mud woman was clean, Anko ushered her into their bedroom to talk.

"What's up Anko? I've never seen you like this before."

Anko sighed. "That's because a lot has happened since we last talked. While we were in wave, we were attacked by Momochi Zabuza. During the fight, he cut Naruto's left hand off, and then escaped. When they fought a second time, he managed to form some kind of chakra hand with help from the kyuubi. As soon as we got back, we reported in to the Hokage, and Naruto and Kakashi's Uchiha brat got into a fight because Naruto is more powerful than he is. Once that was over, I went to take the brats home, only to find that some dumbass villagers had broken into both of their apartments and trashed them. That was two days ago."

The other woman just stared at Anko, before asking, "So what is it that you're trying to do for them? You were kinda vague earlier…"

"Well, I don't want to keep secrets from them if I don't have to. I mean, there are certain things I obviously can't tell them, but I don't want to hide the other things. Naruto is finally starting to open up around me and buns and if he thinks I'm keeping secrets from him he'll close himself back off again, and that's not good for him.

He's not the only one who needs help. I really don't think that Tenten should be by herself right now, especially in light of what happened to her apartment.

Anyway, for what I'm trying to do to work, I have to become their legal guardian, or something like that. I want to ask them about it before I decide one way or the other, though, so it doesn't seem like I'm forcing it on them. I also wanted to run it by you, since you live here too. If you don't like it, we can work something else out."

"No, Anko, that's fine. I have no problem with them staying with us, though this apartment is kind of small for four people. I mean, we have been talking about getting a bigger one for a while now anyway."

"Yeah. Well, let's see what the brats think about the whole thing before we go deciding one way or the other.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Ok brats, listen up. We," Anko motioned to her and the woman behind her," have some things to tell you, and then I have some things to ask you. Please try not to interrupt. This," she motioned to the other woman, "Is Kurenai. She lives here with me. We're….. involved with each other. I realize that this might make you uncomfortable, and if it does, you don't _have_ to stay here. I'm not saying that you have to leave, but if you don't feel right, I will help however I can to find you another place to go. Do either of you have a problem with this?"

Both genin shook their head no, but Naruto still wanted to ask a question.

"Yes Naruto?"

"So you and her are like each others girlfriends?"

"Something like that yes. Anything else?"

Naruto shook his head, and Anko continued.

"That was really all I had to tell you. Since you both seem to be okay with me and Kurenai I have something I would like to ask you. I don't really know of a good way to put this so I'm just going to be straight with both of you. I know that both of you have lived on your own for a while now. I also know that a lot of things have happened to you both recently and I don't think that you should be left alone to deal with them. What I'm trying to ask is that I would like for both of you to consider staying with me and Kurenai instead of trying to find another apartment."

"Why?" that came from Tenten, and Anko faced her to answer the question.

"Well…. That's kind of a difficult question to answer. I realize that you both want to be independent, but I also realize that things have happened to the both of you that you shouldn't have to deal with on your own. I'm not saying that you _can't_ deal with them, but that you shouldn't _have to_. Both of you are too young to have to deal with this shit, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to help."

Tenten was pretty deep in thought, but Naruto looked slightly nervous. His right hand was gripping his shirt over his stomach, and he whispered out, "Does she know?"

Anko just smiled a little. "Yes, Kurenai knows about the fox." At Kurenai's shocked look, she added, "Tenten knows about the fox as well."

Kurenai looked at Naruto, "Yes, Naruto, I know that you hold the Kyuubi. I also know that you didn't have any choice in the matter, and that you are not the fox. I do not hold the fox against you."

Seeing the genin's indecision, Anko added, "I'm not asking you to stay for forever. There won't even really be any rules for you to follow. Well, not anything extreme. I'm not going to pick up after you or do your laundry, or anything like that."

Anko went quiet for a while, and then quietly continued, saying, "The Hokage thinks that this can help me too. I'm not too sure if I agree with him yet, but I'm willing to give it a shot. There are parts of my past….. I still haven't completely come to terms with, and seeing what the two of you are going through reminds me of many of them."

A lone tear slowly made its way down the side of Anko's face, brought about by the Tokujo's tumultuous thoughts and feelings.

"I made many bad choices when I was younger. I did things I still regret to this day. I don't want to see either of you make the same kind of bad decisions that I did, and trying to deal with everything alone…..it just isn't right. We're here for you, I'm here for you, so we'll work through this together, so that you won't look back on your life and wish you would've done something differently."

Anko trailed off after that, and except for the sounds of everyone breathing, the room went silent. Naruto and Tenten were both staring at their laps as they processed all the incoming information, while Anko and Kurenai were both looking at each other, having a silent conversation known only to the two of them, composed entirely of subtle looks and gestures. They talked in this silent language for several moments, until Anko sighed, and nodded her head.

"There is…..something else I should tell you before you make your decision," she said quietly, once again commanding the genins full attention. "I just…..don't want you to think less of me for what I'm about to tell you. There are reasons for it; some of which you will understand, and some you won't.

Training you two isn't the only thing I've been spending my time on. I also do some work in ANBU's torture and interrogation department. I can't really tell you what I do there, but I think that the two of you are smart enough to figure it out on your own."

Tenten and Naruto both took in a breath at that bit of information. "You…. torture people?" Tenten whispered out, while both genin looked at her in shock…and more than a little disgust.

Though the genin didn't notice it, Kurenai could see her lover flinch slightly from the looks on her genin. Anko hung her head, and Kurenai put her hand on the Tokujo's shoulder for support. Anko glanced over at the other woman briefly, showing her a sad smile, before she continued speaking. "Yes, Tenten, what I do is considered torture. That doesn't mean I don't have standards though. It really isn't as bad as you think it is. Most of what I do is intimidation and scare tactics. I don't do it very often, but I am occasionally called in when T & I is really busy, or they feel that my methods have the best chance of success."

Anko then looked up at the two genin, almost glaring at them. "I do not condone what the both of you most likely consider torture. I do not inflict pain to get information. While officially what I do there is considered torture, it really falls more under interrogation. I ….. I watched one of the people who like to inflict pain for information once. What I saw made me so sick I threw up, and I didn't go back there for almost a year. I haven't felt the same there since then really, but no one deserves to go through what I saw, not even the enemy. If I can prevent even one more person from going through that, then I will do it."

By the time Anko had finished, she was staring at her lap again, and took a couple minutes to compose herself, and to let her genin have time to process what they had just been told. Once they had all calmed a little, she continued.

"Do you have any questions now? I will try to answer them the best I can."

After a good five minutes had passed without either of the genin asking any questions, and with Anko more and more uncomfortable, Kurenai spoke. "It's alright if you two need time to digest everything that you've heard this morning. Just know that whatever you decide, you are always welcome here."

Xxxxxxxxxx

After Kurenai had spoken, the two genin had taken her up on her offer of time, and both had wandered out of the small apartment to think. Tenten ended up in a wooded park, and Naruto found himself sitting on the Fourth's head overlooking the village. He tended to end up here whenever he needed to think, though he couldn't for the life of him tell anyone _why_ he liked it up there.

Sure it had a good view and all, but he barely remembered anything going on around him while he was there, being so focused on his thoughts and feelings. When he was seven, after getting out of the hospital, he was so lost in his thoughts that he sat up there for a whole day and night without realizing it, and it wasn't until he talked to the Hokage a day later that he noticed the amount of time he had been gone.

It was nearing the middle of the afternoon when Kurenai happened upon the young man on the monument, and she quietly sat down next to him, though Naruto didn't seem to realize that she was there.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Naruto asked, "Anko-sensei's still a good person right?"

The red-eyed woman was slightly taken off guard by the question as she hadn't been expecting it, but was still able to answer him. "Yes, Naruto, I think Anko is a good person. Do you think she would have invited you and Tenten to stay with her if she wasn't?" Kurenai asked quietly. "Do you think the Hokage would have let her be your sensei if she wasn't?"

Naruto finally looked over at the woman sitting with him, and whispered out, "She only does….what she does….to bad people right?"

Kurenai nodded. "Only really bad people, most of whom probably deserve worse than what she does do to them. She's never really happy when they ask her to help, and it always takes a few days for her to recover from it when she does. She's been doing it less often recently, and not at all since she became your sensei, at least not that I know of."

Kurenai continued to watch the blond jinchuuriki as he continued to think, watching as various emotions played themselves out across his face.

"Do you have any other questions?" she asked eventually.

Naruto just shook his head, and then Kurenai asked, "Have you reached a decision then?"

"I think so."

Kurenai smiled slightly, and said, "As long as you're sure. You can take more time if you need it. Don't feel pressured to make a decision just because I found you up here."

Naruto stood up, and dusted his pants off, "No, I made up my mind. I ….. I would like to stay….if you'll let me."

"Of course we will. Now, let's go find Tenten and see what she thinks, ok? After that, we'll go back to the apartment and work out all the details.

**AN: i hope that the second half of the chapter wasnt too depressing, but it's kind of hard to write a scene like that without being depressing. i hope that anko wasnt too out of character, but canon doesnt really give much to work with. hopefully this will add some depth to her, as well as show that she isnt crazy or insane, she's just had a lot of shit heaped on her during her life, and this is how she's dealing with it.**

**also, i have revealed anko's lover! im not really sure why i like the anko/kurenai pairing, but i do. i also like asuma/kurenai, and i'm going to include both, without any character death, love triangles, three-way sex parties, or banishment. the solution is actually quite simple to me, but if any of you havent figured it out by the time i reveal it i am not responsible for any injuries resulting from you smacking yourselves.**

**i thought about having anko's lover be yuugao, but i really dont know anything about her, besides the fact that she likes hayate, has purple hair, is in anbu, and seems to like swords.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Ch 26**

It took Kurenai and Naruto almost an hour to find Anko's other student. She was sitting about half-way up an oak tree, staring out at a park full of small children, all of whom were running about playing games with each other as their parents watched.

Tenten provided no clues that she had realized that she had company, so the new arrivals just stood under her, also watching the children play.

Considering what the young genin had on her mind right then, it really isn't that surprising that she wouldn't be paying much attention to her surroundings. She was too busy trying to wrap her head around the fact that her sensei, the woman who had taken her under her wing, trained her, and gave her shelter in her time of need also tortured people.

Intellectually, she understood that what Anko did wasn't hard core torture. She knew that Anko didn't beat people, that she didn't use violence to get information out of Konoha's captured enemies. No, the part she was having trouble with was the emotional part. All her life she had been taught that people who torture others were bad people, no exceptions. If you tortured other people, you were a bad person.

She didn't think Anko was a bad person though. Bad people don't offer you to stay in their home…..do they?

"Is it possible to do bad things…..and yet still be a good person?" Kurenai heard from above.

Tenten, having not realized that she had spoken her question out loud, almost fell out of her tree when she heard Kurenai speak.

"Yes. Every ninja in this village has done something in their lives that others see as 'bad,' but that doesn't make them bad people. I've done things that some people call bad, Anko has done things that people call bad, even the Hokage has done things that people see as being bad. What really matters though is why you do it, and how you feel about it. If you do bad things simply because you can, or if you do bad things and feel good about it afterwards, then you are probably a bad person.

Try to think about it like this. If Naruto were injured, and you were defending him, and you killed an enemy doing so, does that make you a bad person? You did just kill someone, after all."

Tenten thought about it for a while, and quietly answered, "No, I don't think that would make me a bad person."

"Why is that?" Kurenai responded.

"Because it wasn't my intention to…..to kill them."

"That's good. You have to remember that it is not only our actions that define what kind of people we are. The intentions behind the actions must also be taken into consideration."

Naruto was quiet during the whole interaction, having come to realize that Kurenai was far better equipped to help Tenten deal with all the things that had happened recently than he was. It was a strange feeling for him, seeing someone that needed help, but being unable to do anything about it.

Tenten soon slid out of the tree, and landed in front of Kurenai. "You think Anko-sensei is a good person right?"

"Yes, Tenten, I think Anko is a good person."

"Naruto?"

Naruto just nodded, before adding, "I mean, yeah, she does bad things, but she doesn't seem to like it, and she only does it to bad people so that she can keep us safe."

"Have you reached a decision then, Tenten?" Kurenai asked softly, "It's ok if you need more time."

"I don't want to be alone anymore," Tenten replied, so quiet that Naruto and Kurenai barely heard her, even though they were standing within arms reach of one another.

Kurenai smiled, "Alright then, let's get back to the apartment; I'm sure Anko is going nuts waiting to hear your decisions."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Anko was nervous. Well, that's a lie. She was all kinds of things. She had told her genin things that would either forge their bond into something nigh indestructible, or forever shatter it into nothing.

Kurenai had sat with her for a couple hours after the genin left to digest the information, and her presence helped a lot. Still, she had become rather attached to her genin, and it would tear her apart if they left her.

She wasn't used to dealing with these kinds of emotions; give her hate, scorn, anger, or anything like that and she knew how to deal with them. Fear wasn't difficult for her to deal with either. The nervousness, though, that was something else. And the anxiety. And worry. Would they accept her? Would they hate her? If they did accept her, to what extent would the acceptance be? Could she still be their sensei? Would they still _want_ her as their sensei?

The conflicting thoughts and emotions were just about to make her explode when Kurenai returned from looking for the genin. She swung her puffy, blood-shot eyes over to the door just in time to see the female jounin walk in, and step to the side, revealing two rather somber genin.

"Hey," Anko called out, while managing a partial smile. "How are you two holding up?"

Naruto looked at his teacher, and gave a weak smile of his own. "We're holding." Tenten then looked at Anko, and the Tokujo could see the myriad of emotions in both of their faces. She let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding when she didn't find hate and revulsion in their expressions.

"Have…have you reached a decision then?" she asked slowly, almost dreading the results.

Tenten nodded her head a little stiffly, and Naruto quietly added, "We're home, sensei."

Relief hit Anko with an almost tangible force, knocking the wind right out of her. Kurenai just crossed her arms while leaning against the wall with a smile on her face while the genin rushed over to check on their teacher.

"You ok sensei?"

Despite the tears flowing freely down her face, Anko smiled, and replied, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

Xxxxxxxxxx

It took the better part of a half hour before the genin were convinced that their sensei was alright, and to get everyone calmed down enough to move on to the next order of business.

"Alright, it's been a long day, but before you go off to bed, there is one more thing that I need to tell you," Anko said to the genin. "In order for me to let you two stay here for however long you want to, I have to become your legal guardian. What that means is that I would be responsible for you. If one of you had some kind of form to fill out with a 'parent' section, for example, it would be filled in by me. Really, though, no problems should come up since you're both genin, and practically considered adults anyway."

"Who is our legal guardian now?" Tenten asked.

"Err…..I honestly don't know," Anko replied, while turning to her lover, "Nai-chan?"

"I'm not completely sure either," the red-eyed woman replied, "but my best guess is either the Head of the Academy, or that they are wards of the village, and I'm not sure who is in charge of them then."

"Why would they be in the charge of the academy Head?"

"Like I said, it's just a guess. I mentioned it though because orphans in the academy _are_ technically either wards of the Head or of whatever orphanage they're in, and it usually takes a while for them to be officially passed along once they graduate or move out."

"Huh. I'll just ask Hokage-sama about it tomorrow. Anyway, what do you two think?" Anko asked, turning back to her genin.

"Would that make you like our mom?" Naruto asked, clearly confused, and a little hesitant.

Anko promptly shook her head. "No. I know that both of you don't know a whole lot about your mothers, but I am certainly not going to try and take their place. I would be in charge of you in a legal sense only, really. I'm not going to try and control what you do or where you go, but there will be some basic rules that we can work out later. Any other questions?"

The genin shook their heads 'no.'

"Alright then, rules. I'm not your mom, as we just established. Therefore, I'm not going to follow around behind you picking up your shit. You make a mess, you clean it up. I'm not going to do your laundry either. If you don't know how I'll show you, but after that you're on your own. Also, don't come barging in to my room unless there is a real emergency, and by that I mean things like we're being invaded by Iwa or the apartment is on fire or something like that. You will be extended the same courtesy." Anko then turned to Kurenai, "Anything you want to add?"

"Yes, actually. While we certainly don't expect you to contribute much, you will both have to give some money for food. We can work out an amount later. Also, I'm not sure if this will affect either of you, but no jutsu practice in here. There just isn't enough room. Other than that, basic common sense stuff really. Have you both been keyed into the door?"

Naruto nodded, and Tenten shook her head.

"Ok. We'll get you keyed into the door in a minute Tenten. Oh, before I forget, I'm sure Anko mentioned it already, but we're rather private about where this apartment is. By that I don't mean that you'll never be able to bring people over, just that you ask one of us before you do, and that you don't randomly shout out about it. Also, it would probably be best if you don't mention my relationship with Anko. It will lead to a lot less awkward situations that way, and it isn't any of their business."

Anko picked up at that point. "Ok, if that's it, then I would like for you two," she said, looking at the genin, "to either keep working on that lock or to go over some of those situations I gave you the other day for at least a little while before you turn in tonight, ok?"

Xxxxxxxxxx

The next day found four rather groggy people before the old Hokage. They all knew that they didn't have to be there that early, but as none of them really slept that night, they decided to just get it over with.

"Well?" Sarutobi asked Anko, "Have they decided?"

Anko nodded, "Yeah, they would like to stay with me and Kurenai."

Sarutobi looked at the two genin, who nodded back to the old man; each of them too tired and too strung out emotionally to form a verbal response.

"Alright then," he continued, pulling two forms out of his desk. He gave both of them to Anko, and she signed them. He then extended one to each of the genin. "Once you sign this, Anko will become your legal guardian. Do either of you have any questions?"

The genin shook their heads, and each of them signed the document presented to them. Sarutobi took them back and looked them over once more to be sure there were no errors, and was just about to say something to the two youngsters on the other side of his desk when he realized that both of them had fallen asleep in the chairs they were sitting in.

He chuckled at the scene, and looked over to Anko, who was barely still conscious herself, and Kurenai, who at least had the decency to look awake, even though the old man knew she was probably just as tired as the rest of them. he gave a meaningful look at Kurenai, and the young jounin lightly tapped a point in her lovers neck, and the purple-haired Tokujo joined her genin in unconsciousness.

Once Sarutobi was convinced that he and Kurenai were the only ones awake, he spoke. "I'm sure you're probably wondering why I had you knock Anko out, but I assure you, my reason is appropriate. It has to do with that apartment you mentioned to me a couple weeks ago." Kurenai's eyes widened. She had made an off-hand remark about looking for another apartment, but hadn't expected anything to come of it. "Oh, good. You weren't expecting anything. It just so happens that a rather spacious four-bedroom unit has come available, and I thought you might be interested in viewing the property."

It took a moment for the information to filter through, but once it did, the jounin could barely speak. "I….I'm flattered, really. It was just an off-hand remark….i certainly wasn't expecting this!"

The old Hokage just smiled, and handed her a brochure. "This is the property; I'm sure you will find it up to your specifications."

Upon seeing the brochure, Kurenai was completely floored. She and Anko had looked at it previously, but had determined that it was far outside their price range. "How….? We looked at this one before, but it's too expensive. With both of us teaching genin right now we just don't bring in enough to cover it," Kurenai reluctantly admitted, as she set the brochure back down on the desk.

Sarutobi picked it up, and began tapping it on the desk, where it made an odd rattling thunk every time it hit the surface. "Did you look through the entire brochure? The market status of this property has recently changed," he said, as he handed the information back to the woman.

Kurenai gingerly took it back, and this time opened it all the way, allowing some keys to fall into her lap. She picked them up and smiled wistfully at her superior. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, a tour won't change the fact that we can't afford it."

"What do you mean? How could you not afford a property that is already yours?"

Seeing the red-eyed woman's blank look, he pulled yet another form out of his desk, and handed it to the stunned woman. "That is the deed for the apartment, registered to Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko and Jounin Yuuhi Kurenai. It is also the registered address of Genin Uzumaki Naruto and his friend Tenten."

The room was silent for a full ten minutes as Kurenai tried to wrap her head around what she had just been given. The apartment was closer in size to a house, and in a much higher-end area of the village than their current one. Had Kurenai and Anko still been on regular missions it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch for them to have gotten it, but seeing as being a jounin sensei only payed as a high B-rank, it just wasn't enough.

"I…. we can't accept this. It's just too much," the woman eventually managed to stammer out. "Surely we don't deserve something like this….?"

Sarutobi stared at his lap for a moment, and then fixed Kurenai with a look that completely blew away every shred of mental stability she had left. It was the look of someone who had done what they felt was right, tried their best, and still came up short. Kurenai even noticed a lone tear make its way down the wizened old face. "You, Anko, and Tenten have done something that I have failed repeatedly at. You made Naruto happy, and for that no thanks is enough. You have given him knowledge, friendship, a home, and a place to belong. That is worth far more than it seems, and if the best way for me to pay back that debt is with a building, then it is surely a small price to pay."

**AN: the emotional parts are almost over, i promise. chunin exams are coming soon, as is sarutobi's talk with sasuke. how well do you see that going over? also, it means that you will get to meet some OC's. yes, i am just about to the point where i will have to make some original people. *crosses fingers* i really hope i can make them believable.  
**


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: okay...this chapter officially begins the chunin exam arc...sort of. i guess it would be better to call it the set-up of the chunin exam. anyway, i'm introducing my first OC in this chapter, so please tell me what you think of her. any advice or criticism is welcome. this is the first major OC ive written, and i dont want her to seem too powerful.**

**Storm Ch 27**

It took Kurenai a couple minutes to wake her companions, all of whom were perfectly fine with sleeping in the Hokage's office all day. Still, she managed to get them all going, and began herding them to their destination.

"Where we goin' 'Nai-chan? We live that way," Anko yawned out, gesturing in some random direction.

"You'll see when we get there," the jounin responded, "Though if you don't hurry up I'm going to leave you here to sleep in the gutter. Even your genin are moving faster than you."

Anko tried to glare at Kurenai, but the effect was ruined when she yawned in the middle of it.

Kurenai rolled her eyes, before turning to the genin. "Hey, if I can convince your lazy sensei to get moving do you two think you're up to roof hopping?"

Both genin nodded that they could, though Tenten added that she wouldn't be able to do it for very long.

"That's fine. Going by rooftop we don't have very far to go." She then turned to Anko and whispered something in the Tokujo's ear, to which Anko raised an eyebrow.

"You serious about that 'Nai-chan?"

Kurenai nodded, and Anko turned to the genin, "Alright brats, let's get going!" By the time she had finished, she and Kurenai were standing on top of a shop, and were about to leave the genin behind.

The genin quickly leapt after them, and Naruto turned to Tenten, "What do you think Kurenai said to sensei?"

"Beats me, but if we don't hurry up we're gonna get left behind," Tenten replied, motioning towards the shrinking image of their sensei.

Xxxxxxxxxx

By the time Naruto and Tenten caught up, Kurenai and Anko were standing in front of an apartment building, in a section of the village that was a fair bit nicer than the one they had left that morning.

They all followed Kurenai up the stairs, until she stopped in front of a door.

"Why'd you bring us here?" Anko asked. "This apartment is vacant. Nobody lives here."

"For some reason," Kurenai replied, while ignoring Anko's question for the moment, "after you three fell asleep this morning, the Hokage decided that we needed more space. I haven't the slightest idea why, but he has given us this apartment, and nothing I said at the time could convince him otherwise. So, we live here now." Kurenai then turned and unlocked the door, letting them all into the empty space.

"There's four bedrooms, and two bathrooms, so Naruto doesn't have to sleep on the couch anymore. Each of you go pick out a room, but the biggest one is ours," Kurenai continued. "Once you do that, we'll go pick up some food and get to moving. Carrying all of our stuff should be good training for you two."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Once the genin had picked their rooms, and the four of them had been fed, they all returned to the old apartment.

"Ok, so how you wanna do this?" Anko asked Kurenai.

"Well…if you want to start packing I'll go get my team to help with the moving…though we might want some more help than that if we don't want to take all day….."

Anko just gave Kurenai an empty look. "Hey Whiskers!" she yelled out, "We need some extra help. I don't feel like carrying this shit across the village all day."

Kurenai looked at Anko confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Just watch."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called out, filling the room with smoke. When it cleared, there were ten Naruto's standing in the small living room.

"You remember where you're going, right brat?"

The group of Naruto's nodded.

"Alright. Start with the large furniture then. By the time you're done with that, the rest of us should have some boxes ready for you to take," Anko told them, while tossing the keys to one.

After a chorus of "hai's" the clones left, taking almost the entire living room with them.

Kurenai just stood there with her jaw hanging open. "How the hell can he _do_ that?" she eventually stammered out.

"Beats me, but the brat's got more chakra than all three of us combined. He even made one of those test papers burst into flames."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. The damn paper turns jet black, smokes, and lights up like a bonfire. The only thing I can think of to explain it is that somehow the paper is reacting to the fox. Anyway, get packing. I really don't wanna be doin this shit all damn day. I got some shit to teach the brats tomorrow and I'd rather not be all sore from haulin our shit across the village."

xxxxxxxxxx

The morning after their move found Anko and her brats in the clearing outside the Forest of Death, just as they did every morning. This particular day, though, had the added bonus of a fourth person present.

"Ok brats pay attention. I have entered you two in the Chunin Selection Exam. It starts next month. This is Takara. She will be taking this exam with you, since you have to be in a full three-person cell to take it. From now until the exam starts is your time to get used to working with each other."

Once Anko finished speaking, Naruto and Tenten took a good look at their temporary teammate. Her left eye was purple, the other currently hidden behind some of her shoulder-length dark red hair, which hung slightly over her face. She was wearing a brown vest, which covered most of a grey-sleeved light blue shirt, and grey pants. A pair of forearm guards were securely fastened on, as was a weapons pouch at her right hip, and some strange blue shoe-things.

"Uh, Takara, what are those things on your feet?" Naruto asked, not having the slightest idea what they were.

"These?" the girl asked, lifting one of her feet. "These are jika-tabi. I like them over the regular ninja sandal because I can feel what's under my feet better. They also give me better traction."

"Wow….nice introductions….." Anko mumbled under her breath, before speaking up. "Oi, brats, introduce yourselves."

"I'm Naruto, and this is Ten-chan," Naruto spoke, while looking a little sheepish that he forgot to introduce himself and his teammate.

Tenten just rolled her eyes, and added, "I'm Tenten. Nice to meet you."

"Alright!" Anko called out, as she clapped her hands together, "Introductions are over. If you want to blab your whole life stories to each other do it on your own time. It's time for sparring! Brat, you go first, taijutsu only. Oh, and for this round you're limited to five. If Takara can handle that many then we'll see about upping the limit. Also no crippling injuries. The exam is in a month and I'd hate to see you all have to wait six months to take the next one just because you wanted to win a training spar."

Takara was quite confused about the whole limit of five thing, but figured that whatever the Tokujo meant would quickly reveal itself.

"Awww, come on, sensei, only five?" Naruto whined, "Why so few?"

"I don't want you to scare her away brat. We gotta break her in slowly, ok?" Anko replied.

Naruto just grumbled, but settled into his stance, while Anko and Tenten moved to give them some space.

"You ready?"

"Of course I am. You?"

Naruto nodded, and Anko called out, "Begin!"

Naruto immediately rushed forward, and let off with a punch aimed at Takara's face. She ducked under it, and sent three rapid strikes into Naruto's chest. They didn't do much damage, but the speed was quite impressive. Momentarily shocked by this speed, Naruto completely missed the fact that Takara was about to trip him, and he landed flat on his ass.

He recovered before she could press the attack, and he rolled back onto his feet, calling his allowed five clones into existence. This in turn shocked Takara, as she was suddenly being blitzed by six Naruto's instead of one. Still, she was not as shocked as Naruto had been, and shifted her stance to something more suited for defense.

The first clone fell to a strike to the chest, while a second rushed through the smoke of its comrade and kicked Takara in the face. She back-flipped in midair, and landed on the head of another clone, dispelling it. She then lunged at another clone, aiming for its chest, but it spun out of the way, causing her to miss entirely. Momentarily off balance, she was unable to block a kick to the back of her head, which sent her sprawling out onto the ground.

Still, she rose to her feet once again, seemingly shaking off the hit as if it were nothing, and charged at the remaining four Naruto's. Having built up enough momentum in her charge, she slid under the first two clones, and struck the one behind them in the leg, causing it to dispel. Just as the two clones she had slid under turned to attack her back, she rolled into a handstand, and kicked them both in the chin. One dispelled immediately, while the other flew a few feet through the air.

Assuming that the airborne Naruto was the real one, she spun to face the last clone, only to see it plant its foot in the middle of her chest, sending her flying to land right next to the original Naruto.

"Alright, that's enough. I think I'll call this a draw."

"But sensei, I still have a clone going," Naruto complained. "Doesn't that mean I should win?"

"Nope. If you and the clone were switched, then maybe, but since you're the one in the dirt, not today," Anko responded.

Takara had recovered from her kick, and sat up, wiping some blood from her mouth. "What the hell were those?"

"Kage Bunshin. Whiskers here loves them. He could probably spawn a whole army of the damn things if he wanted to."

Naruto then reached for the hand that Anko had offered to him to help him up, but Anko's grip just crushed the glove she was holding onto, as Naruto fell back down onto the ground.

"Aw, damn it. Stupid glove. When are you gonna give me that new one sensei?"

"What the hell?" Takara called out. "You only have one hand?"

"Well, kinda, yeah…." Naruto replied, as he scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "I lost it on a mission a few weeks ago, and about a week after it happened, I formed a chakra hand to replace it. Still don't know why it formed, but I don't really care anymore. It's just taking a little getting used to."

"Wow. That's uh…..really amazing. What can you do with it?" Takara asked, still amazed.

"I can phase it through things, and even mess with their insides. Otherwise, I don't really know. How about you? You got anything special?"

"Ehh, kind of. I'm from the Hayashi clan, and we have these special jutsu we can use. One of them let's me shoot a small cone of fire from my hands."

"Yeah, I've seen that before," Anko added. "The range wasn't all that great, but in a close quarters fight, being able to shoot fire from your hands without seals can definitely change the flow of the fight."

"They don't use seals?" Tenten asked.

"No, they don't," replied Takara. "Those in my clan can generate small amounts of what we call 'impact chakra.' It's really easy to mold, and that let's us skip the seals. The downsides to it though are the fact that we can't generate very much of it, since it dissipates pretty fast, and the only way _to_ generate it is in physical combat, or through intense meditation."

Takara's explanation was cut short when an ANBU landed near Anko, and spoke to her quietly. Once the ANBU left, Anko turned to her team, and said, "Well, we're gonna have to cut this short. The Hokage wants to see us." Anko turned and started walking towards the tower, only to see that her genin weren't following her.

"What about Takara?"

"Takara is now one of my genin until after the Chunin exam. Now hurry your asses up. I don't wanna get yelled at for taking all day to get there."

**AN: so? what do you all think of her? takara isnt based on nothing; she is actually based on a character of mine from D&D online. that character is part monk, and the 'impact chakra' and its abilities are based on the abilites of the monk class in that game. i will try to explain it better as the story goes on, but if any of you have questions, please ask me and i'll do my best to explain it. i'd do it here, but i feel that it would be too technical.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Storm Ch 28**

"You summoned us, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked upon her entry into the old man's office.

"Ahh, come in, Anko. Hello, Naruto-kun, Tenten, and you are?" Sarutobi replied, looking towards Anko's third genin.

"Hayashi Takara, Hokage-sama," Takara replied.

"Ahh, yes….. well, I looked into that wire for you, Anko, and I think I found just what you're looking for," the Hokage told the Tokujo, as he handed her a small package. "This is the highest density chakra wire in the village that you can get without an obscenely expensive special order. I hope it works out for you."

Anko had removed the packaging while the Hokage finished speaking, and turned to Naruto as soon as the Hokage finished speaking.

"Here, hold this," she told Naruto.

The genin peeled off his left glove, and grabbed the spool. "Hey! It works! I barely sink into it at all."

Anko just smiled. "Did you need us for anything else, Hokage-sama?"

"No, not that I can think of right now…." The old man thought. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Upon their return to the clearing, Anko took Naruto's glove and began attaching the wire to it, only to realize that she didn't really know how to make it do what she wanted.

"Che, damn wire," Anko mumbled to herself. "Oi, I'm going to go find someone who can make a glove out of this damn wire. Entertain yourselves for a couple hours."

Their sensei having just vanished, the three genin looked at each other. An awkward silence fell between them for a few minutes, until Tenten spoke up.

"I'm going to go look at getting me some mesh armor. The swelling should be down enough that I can get fitted for it."

"Okay…..have fun," Naruto called out to her as she left, leaving him and Takara alone in the clearing.

Takara spoke next, "So, uhh…..just how many kage bunshin can you make?"

Naruto stared at her for a second as he thought about her question. "I actually don't know," he replied slowly. "The most I've made so far at once is like two hundred, or something like that. If I only do a few at a time though I think I could make a lot more than that, why?"

Takara was just staring at him trying not to go into shock. "That's got to be like an A-rank technique! How the hell can you make that many?" she stammered out.

Naruto just scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I have a lot of chakra," he replied, smiling sheepishly.

"I think a lot is a bit of an understatement, Naruto. Any idea how long Anko-sensei will be gone? And what is she doing exactly?"

"Sensei is going to find someone to turn that wire into a glove for me. I really don't know how long it will take." He held up his ghostly left hand, "I can't really hold on to anything with this until I learn to control it better. It keeps phasing through everything I touch with it if I'm not paying attention to it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hold out your arm, and I'll show you." Naruto then took his left hand and phased it through Takara's arm, and watched as she marveled at what she was seeing.

"It works fine here, but I really have to concentrate if I don't want it to do that. The only thing we've found so far that I can't pass through really easy is chakra steel like what's in the forehead protectors. So, Anko-sensei had the idea to take some of that metal and make me a glove out of it so I don't have to concentrate so hard."

"How'd you lose your hand?"

"Well,…..

Xxxxxxxxxx

After leaving Naruto and Takara, Tenten wandered her way to a shinobi supply store, and walked up to the counter.

"Can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for some mesh armor. You sell that right?"

"Yeah, I sell it, amongst other things. You're a bit younger than most of my customers though."

Tenten just smiled up at the man, "I just decided that getting hurt on missions sucks."

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

"I tried to block a blow with a cheap katana and it shattered. I caught several of the pieces in my side."

The man flinched slightly. "Ouch. That had to be fun," he replied sarcastically. "That all you're looking to stop?" he then asked, going back to business. "There's different grades of armor available, depending on how much you want it to stop. Basic armor will stop most light stabs and slashes. It's mostly for protection against shrapnel and such. It also provides the least restriction to movement. That sound like what you're looking for?"

Tenten just nodded.

"Alright. Come on into the back and I'll have my assistant measure you up for some."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Anko had hooked up with one of her fellow nins, who happened to specialize in wire techniques, and he had pointed her in the direction of the shop he did his business through.

She walked up to the counter, and the woman behind it barely looked up from the book she was reading.

"What do you want?" the woman asked flatly.

Anko placed the glove and the wire on the counter. "I would like a glove of this size made out of this wire."

The woman glanced at the wire and the glove, before returning to her book. "Come back this time tomorrow. It will be done by then."

Xxxxxxxx

Not able to get her wire order until the next day, Anko headed back to the clearing where she had left her genin, and managed to catch the end of Naruto's story of the wave mission.

"Oi, whiskers, where'd buns go off to?"

"Ten-chan went off to get some mesh armor. You got my glove already? Man, that was fast….."

"Sorry, brat. It won't be done till tomorrow. Until then, I ordered you and buns some new blades that should be done in the morning as well, so you two will be able to practice with those this month too. Anyway, it's probably a good idea for you both to get that mesh too, so let's go catch up to buns."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Despite much grumbling from Naruto, the next morning found all three of Anko's genin in the clearing outside the Forest of Death with armored mesh under their clothes. She gave Naruto and Tenten their new blades, and then tossed Naruto his new glove.

"Alright brat, see how it fits."

Naruto happily stuffed his ghost hand into the new glove, and was amazed at how well it kept his incorporeal fingers contained.

"This is awesome sensei! Thank you!"

"Oi, buns, the med-nins cleared you for full service last night right?"

"Yeah, why?" tenten replied.

Anko just grinned, "Because today I'm having you spar against Takara."

Tenten paled slightly at that. She knew it was an irrational fear, but the last time she locked blades with someone she almost died. She knew that Takara wasn't going to kill her, but the fear still persisted.

"First things first though. Are you proficient in any weapons, Takara?"

"Yes," she replied. "I am proficient with the staff, as well as single and dual kamas, in addition to the standard thrown weapons, though I prefer shuriken to kunai."

Naruto spoke next. "What's a kama?"

Takara just reached behind her and pulled out one of her kamas. The handle was about eighteen inches long, with a six inch scythe blade at one end. "This is a kama. It's more of a defensive weapon, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you with it."

"Alright brats, first round sparring, whiskers against Takara, no jutsu. Then it's whiskers against buns, whiskers against me, and then buns versus Takara. Any questions? No? I didn't think so. Begin!"

"Wait!" Takara called out, as she dug through her pack for a second. She came out with a white roll and proceeded to wrap her hands and wrists.

"Ok. I'm all set now."

Anko just raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you do that before you got here?"

"I thought you were going to give us a moment to prepare before starting a sparring match."

"Ok, first rule," Anko said, "The enemy will not wait for you, so I'm not going to either, understand?"

"Yeah….." she replied, as she suddenly swung at Naruto's head.

He yelled at being attacked like that, but returned the punishment as best he could until he got enough space to draw his new tanto. Holding them in a reverse grip, he swung them at Takara, forcing her to draw her kamas.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere in the village, Sarutobi was confronting a certain genin about their problems.

"Uchiha Sasuke, do you know why you are here?"

Sasuke just glared at the old man behind the desk.

"Hn."

The Hokage sighed in response to the Uchiha's non-answer.

"Look, I know that you think you need to kill your brother. What he did was an abomination. However, that does not give you the right to demand things of your fellow nin. Your actions the other day were clearly out of line, and it is by my word alone that you aren't in jail or on suspension.

I also understand that you had just returned from a mission that you were woefully unprepared for, so I'm letting it slide for the moment.

Now then, about your actions themselves, did the thought that Naruto might tell you about his hand if you had simply asked him about it ever cross your mind?"

Sarutobi just watched as the skin around Sasuke's eyes tightened up, and he was sure that he knew what the boy was thinking.

"Ah, yes, the 'pride of the Uchiha'… I'm sure you were just trying to find a polite way of telling me that it is beneath you to simply ask for something, and that since you are a member of the Uchiha clan, we should all bend over backwards and just give it to you," he said, with much sarcasm.

Noting that Sasuke's eyes had widened rather dramatically during his last statement, he continued on, "The Uchiha clan, for all intents and purposes is gone. You maintain clan status by the will of the council alone. You should also know that I have the power to revoke that clan status whenever I want.

Now, were it up to me alone, I would have revoked your clan status the night of the massacre, as one person does not constitute a clan. That would make the council angry, however, as they feel the need to coddle and spoil you, which has resulted in you having an ego that is far too large. Your attitude also leaves much to be desired."

He could tell that Sasuke was getting angry about the dressing down, but knew that if the boy's ego wasn't flattened now, then it would never be possible.

"To that end, I am ordering you to attend counseling sessions with Yamanaka Inoichi until further notice."

Sasuke finally spoke, though it was in a rather bitter tone. "Why counseling? I'm not insane."

"No, you're psychologically unstable, which is far worse. Also know that if you blow these off, I can and will revoke not only your clan status, but your genin status as well. This fixation you have on your brother is not healthy, and it has begun to interfere with your capacity to serve as a ninja of the Leaf. Until I feel that you are stable enough to warrant it, you are hereby limited to D-rank missions within the limits of the village. Be glad that I am not prohibiting you from entering the upcoming Chunin Selection Exams, should your sensei recommend you for them. That is all, dismissed."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Back near the Forest of Death, Naruto and Takara had fought to a stand-still, since they were not allowed to use jutsu, and didn't want to risk injury.

Declaring the match a draw, Anko turned to Naruto.

"So how's that glove workin out for ya, brat?"

"It's awesome, sensei! I barely have to concentrate on it at all."

"How's the sensation with the glove?"

Naruto looked confused, until Tenten added, "She means can you still feel things, like how hard you're gripping things and if you can feel textures and things like that."

"Well…..i can feel the textures fine I guess….but how do I test grip strength?"

Anko just looked around for a second, until she found what she was looking for. Handing Naruto a pinecone, she asked him, "Alright, I want you to hold that pinecone tightly enough so that it won't fall out of your hand, but not so tight that you-"

Crunch

"-crush it…" Anko trailed off, as small bits of what used to be a whole pinecone fell from Naruto's gloved hand.

"Ok then, until you manage to get your grip under control, no more sparring. I'm not going to risk you crushing your opponent if you grab them. That leaves Buns against Takara. You both ready?"

The girls in question nodded, though Tenten was still nervous.

"Begin!"

**AN: im not too happy with this particular chapter; it just doesnt feel right. still, it has the consequences for sasuke walking out on the hokage, and some more training for anko's brats. chunin exam will probably start in the next chapter, or at the latest the one after that. im still trying to iron out the actual exams, since im planning on changing them. the canon ones are just too over done, and the first is too damn boring.**

**til then, enjoy!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Storm Ch 29**

The day of the first test of the Chunin Selection Exam dawned just like any other. The sun rose, and began to dispel the dew covering the village. It also began to dispel the sleep of Naruto, who had unfortunately chosen a bedroom whose window faced east.

"Ugh," Naruto groaned as he rolled over to face away from the morning sun, "Note to self: buy some curtains."

Still, now that he was awake, he knew that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon, and so began to get himself ready as best he could for the unknown that was the Chunin Selection Exam.

Having managed to get dressed, Naruto stumbled out into the kitchen to find some breakfast, only to find a still mostly asleep Kurenai in a robe drinking coffee.

She mumbled something as he walked by, and he mumbled something back in return, neither of them sure what they had mumbled.

Eventually finding some cereal, Naruto dropped into the chair opposite Kurenai and started eating. Once he was done, he put his dishes in the sink, and proceeded to pour a cup of very black coffee, before sitting back down. He didn't drink it; just sat there staring at it.

A few moments later, Naruto and Kurenai were joined at the table by a third person, who immediately dropped their head on the table, with a loud thump. Naruto just slid the cup of coffee to them.

A hand snaked across the table, before grasping the handle to the cup, and the head it was attached to rose from the table, revealing a very sleepy Tenten. She immediately downed half the cup, ignoring the fact that it was still very hot, before standing and returning to her room, coffee in hand.

Naruto yawned, before returning to his room as well, to finish getting ready for the day ahead.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Half an hour later, the four occupants of the house were getting ready to leave.

"You all loaded up brats?"

"Yes, sensei," they both replied, having spent the last couple days plotting out what they were going to take to the first exam.

"Alright, get going then. Takara will meet you there, so don't worry about that."

"We know, sensei," they replied as they left the apartment, with Anko and Kurenai remaining behind for a few moments.

"Well, what do you think their chances are, 'Nai-chan?" Anko asked.

"You've done a good job with them. I can't say anything about their chances of promotion, but they shouldn't get injured much. They'll be fine."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Naruto and Tenten found Takara leaning against the fence outside of the academy, and she fell in step with the pair as they walked by, with the girls flanking Naruto.

Once they entered, they were met by Anko, who, after making sure that all three of them were there, wished them luck on their exam.

They entered the assigned room, and were surprised to find only a few teams in there, as opposed to the mob they were expecting. They were them waved over by a man sitting at a table on the other side of the room.

"Village and Sensei," the man asked, as soon as they were up to the table.

"Konoha, Mitarashi Anko," Tenten replied.

The man looked through a few pages on a clipboard, before looking back to them. "Alright, the first exam is all about information gathering. There are meetings going on in several of the warehouses in the village right now. They are about the second exam. Your first exam consists solely of learning where and when the second exam is taking place. How you learn this information is up to you, but there are some rules to follow. You are not allowed to kill or seriously injure anyone at these warehouse meetings. Also, if anyone escapes after learning of your presence, we may fail you. If they discover your presence, they are authorized to defend themselves. You have from now until the start of the second exam, whenever that may be, to find out where and when the second exam starts, and to show up to it. You may use any skills the three of you possess to complete this mission. You may not seek assistance from your sensei, the people of this village, or people from the visiting villages. You are allowed to visit the shops, though you will be marked down for it. Don't ask how we will find out. You have been assigned warehouse twenty-seven. Dismissed."

Anko's team retreated from the table, found an unoccupied corner, and started planning.

"Well, what do you two think?" Takara asked.

"Stealth and information gathering….." Naruto thought out loud, "Sounds boring."

"Not all missions are bandit removal, Naruto," Tenten scolded, "Just be glad it isn't a written test."

That of course made Naruto shiver, as he absolutely _hated_ written tests.

"Don't joke about that, Ten-chan, I _hate_ written tests."

"Well, before we get too settled on a plan, let's go scout the warehouse we've been assigned, and we'll go from there, alright?" Takara asked, getting the conversation back on track. Getting no objections, the three of them headed off to go do just that.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Having completed a quick walk-around of the building, the three chunin-hopefuls met up outside a café a couple blocks from the warehouse.

"Find anything?"

"Main entrance has three guards, all looked alert, not a good method of entry," Takara said.

"Back door is no good either, and the side door has been welded shut, but I did notice an open window right by the side door though. That might be our ticket in," said Tenten. "You find anything Naruto?"

"No. This warehouse has no skylights or roof windows," Naruto replied, shaking his head.

"Well, looks like it's the window then. Did you see any guards by side door?"

Tenten just shook her head. "No, I don't think there's a guard over there. The alley it's in didn't have any footprints that I noticed, and the window itself looked rusty, so it probably stays open all the time."

"Alright, sounds good. We'll go with that then, unless you two can think of a better way."

"Works for me," Naruto added, not having any real problem with the window entry.

"Let's go."

The three calmly made their way down the street towards the building, and ducked into the alley when a villager pushed a large cart past the entrance. Crouching behind some boxes, they examined the door, and found that is was firmly welded shut. Takara then climbed up the wall using her chakra to stick to it, and peeked over the edge of the window. She was only there for a moment, before she rejoined Tenten and Naruto at the bottom of the wall.

"Well? Does it look good?" Tenten asked.

"It looks good, but they have a screen in the window. For some odd reason, it has a key lock on the outside of it, but that shouldn't be too hard for me to get by. Either of you good at stealth?"

Naruto just nodded, while Tenten said, "I'm not the greatest, but I can manage. I was actually planning on covering the exit in case they attack you two."

"That's fine," Takara replied, while she pulled a mask out of her hip pouch. Once it was on, the black material of the mask covered her whole head except for a small strip around her eyes.

"No talking once we get inside. Use hand signals if you need to. If they find us, meet at Naruto's old apartment, ok?"

Tenten nodded, while Naruto did a few hand seals, and whispered out, "Zenpan Kitsune no Jutsu."

There was a small cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, Naruto had been replaced with a house-cat sized red fox, which promptly leapt onto a box, and then onto Tenten's shoulder. Tenten just scratched the fox's ears, and began to climb the wall after an amused Takara.

Once Takara dealt with the locked screen, which only took her a few moments, the two girls and fox climbed into the warehouse. It was very dark inside the building, which only made their job easier, and Takara melted right in with the shadows of the room, off to go find a good spot to observe the chunin talking about the second task.

Tenten just crouched down so Naruto could jump off of her shoulder, and took a hidden guard position near the window while she watched Naruto scamper off around some crates.

Said fox boy made short work of the distance between the window and the meeting, and soon found himself a nice little space behind some cardboard boxes full of toilet paper to curl up in, his form-enhanced hearing picking up everything that was said.

Takara had taken to the rafters of the building, and found herself a decent spot sitting on the mounting plate for some kind of ceiling crane while she listened to the men below her.

There were four people that Takara could see, sitting around a large crate playing cards. There was an empty wagon near them, so she figured that they were relaxing after having unloaded it.

"Man, I can't believe they're making chunin do D-ranks all week…." One of them men complained.

"We've told you, Kaito, that there's a reason for this. I don't really like doing D-ranks either, but the first part of the Chunin Selection Exam is this week. We're supposed to talk about it so the genin can spy on us, and then report on if we notice anything weird."

"Shut up Nori, I know _why_ we have to do it; I just want to know why _we_ have to do it. Why couldn't they have got the new chunin to so this shit?"

Nori just sighed, "The new chunin aren't used for this _because_ their new. It would be too easy for the genin to sneak around the new chunin. Besides, if we do find them, we get to fight them a little bit."

"At least there's that," Kaito replied. "You think there's anyone here right now?"

"I don't know, probably not. The first round just started like an hour ago. What do you think Hibiki?"

"Beats me," Hibiki replied, voice muffled from the crate he was digging through. "When's the second part start anyway? I never did find out."

Nori just slammed his palm into his forehead. "I'm surrounded by idiots," he mumbled, before answering the question. "It starts on Thursday morning at the gate to the Forest of Death. I kinda feel sorry for the little bastards that gotta go in there. I've been a chunin for three years and _I_ don't like it in there. Anyway, we should probably try and come up with some kind of code for the genin to crack. Don't want to make this too easy for them after all."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Up in the rafters, Takara couldn't believe how easy this was turning out to be. She was expecting the barest hint of a clue, something that she would have to think over for a while. Still, having acquired the needed information, she began to creep he way back towards the entrance, hoping Naruto was doing the same.

Naruto was, in fact, doing the same. He had heard the same conversation, (including Nori's mumbling) and was crawling back to Tenten.

Naruto and Takara reached the bun-headed girl at the same time, and the three exited the building through the same window they entered. Naruto once again rode on Tenten's shoulder, and Takara locked the window screen behind them.

Once they were on the ground, Takara removed her mask, and Naruto ended his jutsu, returning to his natural form. They quickly left the scene, and Naruto led them to the top of the Hokage Monument.

"Why's you bring us up here?" Takara asked.

"Well, nobody really goes up here, so we can probably talk without anybody hearing us. Well, that and I just like it up here."

"So what did you two find out?" Tenten asked, now that they were alone.

"The second round starts on Thursday morning, at the entrance to the Forest of Death. They didn't mention a specific time, but I don't think that that will be a problem. We just have to show up early and wait for it to start."

Takara then looked at Naruto and Tenten, as both were shuddering slightly. "What?"

"Have you ever _seen_ the Forest of Death?" Tenten asked.

"Not really," Takara replied. "I noticed some really big trees over that way while I've been training with you two, but I've never gotten very close to it, why?"

"Because that place is creepy," Naruto replied. "Anko-sensei hasn't ever let us go inside it, but she has taken us up to the fence around it. There are trees in there that are bigger around than some of the clan houses. Not only that, but the place is huge. We did a D-rank a couple months ago where we had to help deliver some fence material to training ground forty four, which is the Forest of Death, and there was like fifty kilometers of fence! You could get lost for _days_ in there."

Takara grimaced slightly at the description, "Well, it can't be all bad, can it?"

Naruto and Tenten just looked at each other for a moment, before pulling Takara to the ground as they took a seat in the dirt.

"Let us tell you some of the things Anko-sensei has told us about that place."

**AN: well, what do you think? thought id go for something a little different for the first round of the chunin exam. some of you might think it was too easy, but there's not much i can do about that. in my defence, the chunin in the warehouse didnt think that they would get a group that early, and werent really paying attention.**

**for those of you who dont like math, a basic circle that is 50 kilometers around is only like 15 kilometers across. in miles, its like 31 around and 10 across. im not sure if canon provides a measurement, but im going with this one. oh, and the size of the trees may be an exaggeration, its been a while since ive watched the chunin exam, and come on, its naruto talking, and he's 12.**

**so, tell me what you think. id really like some feedback on this setup for the first test.  
**


	30. Chapter 30

**IMPORTANT NOTE 12-6-11: to all my readers out there, my computer has died, i think. it refuses to stay on for than one second. im taking it in to get looked at, but it might be a while before i can update again. this note is being typed on my mothers computer, even.**

**what makes me the most angry about this though is that i had best buy's geek squad look at my computer THIS FUCKING MORNING because my screen had stopped working. they fixed that, i took it home, and it worked fine all day. i get home from work, it works fine all evening. as soon as i decide to work on my stories, it just shuts off.**

**anyway, ill be back as soon as i can get it fixed, or if it isnt cost-effective to fix, then as soon as i get another one. when i get more news, ill update this note.**

**one last thing, since i want to end this on a good note: has anyone other than me noticed that most of the really good authors out there seem to have some sort of catastrophic computer failure while writing their story? i seem to come across those kind of AN's at least once per really good story... hmm...**

**12-11-11: i got a new computer! well, not a NEW one, but its new to me, and seems to be doing the job. it still runs xp though, so it might take a little getting used to. anyway, next chapter should be out sometime around new year, unless i finish early.  
**

The first day of the second round of the Chunin Selection Exam began like any other. The birds were chirping, the dew was evaporating, and the villagers were beginning to go about their business.

Oh, and three genin were glaring at each other having spent a not very restful night near the entrance to training ground forty four.

Well, to be a little more precise Naruto and Tenten were glaring at Takara, who had somehow managed to sleep through all the creepy-ass noises coming from the fenced-off forest. Still, despite the glares, the three were able to break camp without too much trouble, and positioned themselves up in some trees to watch the entrance to the Forest of Death.

A couple hours later, they saw some chunin set up a tent near one of the gates, and then place a table in front of it. Shortly after that, another nin walked up, this one carrying a box of scrolls. None of Anko's genin recognized him, and all the chunin there seemed to defer to him, so they assumed he was their next proctor.

Sure enough, genin teams began to trickle into the clearing outside the gate, and once there were five or so Team Anko made their appearance.

As soon as they started to get closer though Naruto realized that he knew the man they assumed was the next proctor.

"Hey, I know that guy!" Naruto exclaimed to his teammates.

"Really? Who is he?"

"It's closet-perv! He's normally chasing Konohamaru around though."

"Naruto!" Tenten whisper-yelled, as she hit him in the back of the head. "Don't be so loud! If he's the next proctor like we think he is, he can probably kick us out of the exam if you piss him off!"

Naruto instantly whipped his hands up to cover his mouth, "Sorry!"

Still, that didn't mean that naruto was going to stop talking. The three of them spent the rest of the time until the exam started whispering to each other about the other teams present, and about the upcoming exam.

They greeted each of the Konoha teams that had people they knew on them, and filled each one in on what they thought of the next exam.

Well, at least until three genin from Tenten's year showed up, that is.

"YOSH! I HAVE FOUND ONE OF OUR FELLOW YEAR-MATES! SHE MUST BE ENJOYING HER SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH AS MUCH AS WE ARE!"

Upon hearing the yell, which came from practically right behind them, Naruto and Takara both screamed, and leapt almost five feet in the air from the shock, while Tenten just stiffened slightly.

As soon as Naruto regained control of his voice, he yelled out, "What the hell was that?"

Tenten just rubbed her temples, and sighed. She first turned to the person who shouted, "Lee, those are my teammates that you just scared the shit out of." She then turned her attention back to her teammates, who were now standing and brushing the dirt off of themselves.

"Naruto, Takara, this is Lee. Lee is…..uhhh…Lee is, uhhh…. I don't really know what he is, but I'm pretty sure he was thrown on his head repeatedly as a child."

"Don't you mean 'dropped'?" Takara asked.

"No, I really mean thrown. Being dropped on your head, even multiple times, cannot account for that level of…whatever the hell is wrong with him."

"Ahh….."

"Yeah."

"YOU MUST BE HERE FOR THE CHUNIN EXAM THEN! I LOOK FORWARD TO FACING YOU!"

"Retard, shut up."

The new voice came from behind Lee, and all four of them turned to look at who had spoken.

There were two immediate suspects, both of whom were standing behind Lee. The male was wearing a light tan shirt with a weird design on it, along with dark shorts. He had long black-or-dark-brown hair, and his forehead protector had an unfastened chin strap. He also had white eyes, so they assumed he was a Hyuuga.

His companion was a little shorter, and female, with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail. Green eyes glared at them from her face, and she wore a simple forest green shirt and pants.

"OH! IT IS MY YOUTHFUL TEAMMATES NEJI AND REN! ARE YOU NOT EXITED TO BE HERE ON THIS YOUTHFUL MORNING?"

"I don't care about your 'youth' shit, Retard. Shut up and leave the dumbasses to themselves," the girl, now identified as Ren said to the four.

Neji spoke next, "It is their fate to lose during these exams. We should not associate with losers and weaklings."

Naruto and Tenten were about to yell at him, but they were beaten to it, surprisingly enough by his teammate Ren.

"Listen, asshole," she said, turning to face him, "I didn't make Retard shut up just so I could listed to you ramble on about all that fate and destiny shit either. Now, both of you stay quiet, and follow me."

With that, she turned away and left, with an indifferent-looking Neji and dejected Lee following her.

"What the hell is her problem?" Naruto asked.

"Beats me, but I'm glad she took Lee with her. I think I've gone deaf in one ear."

Further complaints were cut off by a noise from the front, and all the genin assembled turned to face it.

"Your attention please! Ahem, I am Ebisu, and I will be the proctor for this part of the exam. Congratulations on making it through the first part of the exam. The second part starts as soon as you cross into the area behind me, which is officially known as training ground forty-four, though many here refer to it as the 'Forest of Death.' You will shortly be provided with either a heaven or earth scroll, and must make it to the tower, located near the center of this area, with one of each.

You will have one hundred twenty hours to find the scroll you need, and get to the tower. That's five days for those of you who can't add. During that time, you will have to fight not only each other, but the forest itself as well.

Also, should you happen upon any fenced off areas within this training ground, it is Konoha's express recommendation that you do not cross them. If you do, you _will_ die."

Ebisu paused for a couple moments to let that sink in, and to answer a few questions. Once those were answered, he continued.

"Now then, you must reach the tower with all three members of your team not dead or incapacitated, while in possession of both a heaven and an earth scroll to pass. If there are no further questions, the death waivers will be passed out to you. If you do not sign one, you cannot proceed with this exam. It is entirely possible that some of you will die in this exam, and we won't be held responsible for it. Once your team has filled them out, you can trade three waivers for a scroll in that tent over there. Kami be with you."

With the end of Ebisu's speech, whispers broke out amongst the genin, as all the teams were trying to decide if they wanted to continue or not.

Eventually all the genin decided to go for it, and they began to fill out their forms. A short line quickly formed outside the scroll tent, and it wasn't very long until all the genin teams had their scrolls.

Having acquired their scroll, Takara was starting to realize the truth in the stories she had been told about the forest she was about to enter. Some of the trees were more than fifty feet thick, and those were the ones on the edge of the forest!

Once they were far enough into the trip to their assigned gate to not be overheard, Takara turned to her fellow genin, "So how do you want to do this? I'm personally better at fighting from ambush and setting traps, but that's just me."

"I don't really care either way," Tenten replied, "though ambush is probably safer. That way if a team that we don't think we can handle comes by we can let them go."

"Works for me," Naruto added, "I have a couple new ideas to try out too."

Xxxxxxxxxx

In the jounin lounge, those jounin who had genin in the chunin exam were waiting for the results of the first test.

Well, most of them were anyway. Kakashi still hadn't shown up yet.

"Well, my genin made it. Anko?"

"You need to ask? Ok course my brats made it, 'Nai-chan. Where's your faith in my students?"

Kurenai just glared at Anko, "You're not exactly known for being subtle, Anko. Forgive me for worrying that your genin might've picked up on that."

"AH!" Anko exclaimed, while clutching her hands to her chest, "You wound me, 'Nai-chan. I knew your brats would make it, yet you sit there and doubt mine. Whatever shall I have to do to you to get you to trust me and my students?"

Kurenai just hung her head and sighed.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Upon entering the forest, Anko's genin knew that just getting to the tower wasn't going to be a problem. At the speeds they were capable of, it shouldn't take them more than an hour or two to cover the distance.

No, the problem was both finding a good ambush point, and then getting another team to walk into it. They also had to make sure that they didn't get ambushed themselves in the process, something much easier said than done.

They finally found a good spot about half-way through the first day, and decided to set up there, figuring they could always move if they didn't get anyone. Naruto also sent out several clones, both to scout the area and to try and lure a team through their traps.

**AN: dont kill me! i know its late, and its short, but i thought all you readers would like it more than waiting until i finished it. real life kinda snuck up on me after the last chapter, and i lost track of time. since the last chapter, i have finished finishing my basement, and am in the process of moving myself into it. i also started a new job, and have been having to adjust to that. next chap should be out before xmas though.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Ch 31**

After a few hours of waiting in the treetops, Anko's genin struck pay dirt, in the form of two genin from Kusa wandering into their clearing.

They carried no obvious weapons, though they assumed the bald one with the weird mask and heavy green vest to be a taijutsu type, and the sedge hat guy he was with to be some kind of support. Granted, they didn't know what kind of support, but they figured that he was less likely to be up close and personal with them.

Glancing at her teammates, Tenten prepared some kunai with explosive tags, and nodded, signaling to Naruto and Takara that she was ready.

Takara pulled her black mask down over her face, the gleam in her amethyst eyes showing that she was also ready.

Naruto shifted the chakra in his feet, and leaned back, his shoes sliding on the bark until he was standing on the underside of the branch he had been perched on. He remained there for only a second, before dropping to the forest floor, right in front of the Kusa genin.

The one with the hat had a shocked look on his face for all of a second, as Takara chose that moment to land on him, driving his face into the ground.

Naruto and Takara both looked to the masked genin to assess his, and then their, next moves. Much to their surprise, though, he just tipped his head down and to the side just enough for them to notice the movement, and then vanished in a kawarimi.

Naruto and Takara both glanced at each other in shock, before a hissing noise from under Takara's feet pulled their attention. Instead of an unconscious grass nin, she was standing on a pile of grass clippings, which were partially covering several actively burning explosive notes.

Naruto's next statement summed up their situation almost perfectly; delivered in a tone that only one who is well and truly fucked can ever achieve.

"Shit."

The notes erupted into a massive fireball, sending Takara and Naruto flying. She ended up back in the tree she came from, though her footwear and mask were burned away, along with her pants below the knee.

Naruto didn't fare much better, as the front side of his jacket and shirt were consumed in the blast, leaving only his armored mesh, forehead protector and special glove above the waist.

They were just about to return to the fight when they both heard several dozen thumps, before another explosion sent them diving for cover.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto yelled.

"They went north!" a voice called from above. Recognizing it as Tenten, the rest of team Anko joined her in pursuit of the grass nin, though Takara was wincing slightly every time her feet touched something.

Still, she did her best to ignore the pain, and joined in the pursuit of the two grass genin. It didn't take them very long to catch up, as the one with the heavy vest was limping a little bit, and his mask was gone, presumably destroyed in Tenten's explosion.

Realizing that weren't going to outrun their pursuers, the limping one turned to fight, while the other stopped a few feet behind him. When he turned around, the first thing he saw was Naruto slamming his shoulder into his teammate's stomach in a sort of flying tackle.

Before he could attack the blond, though, he had to deal with his own attacker, as Takara came flying over top of Naruto and his teammate. He immediately tried to bring his guard up, but Takara was too close, and moving too fast, for it to be all that effective, and she was able to slam an open palm strike into his face.

She wasn't able to follow up on the strike, though, as her momentum sent her flying over his head. She tucked into a roll as soon as she landed, finishing in a crouching position. As soon as she stopped, she threw a handful of shuriken at her opponent, who was still airborne, as well as upside down, from her strike, and managed to hit him in the ribs with one of the stars.

The bald nin, who was holding off the combined assault of Naruto and Tenten, saw his brother fall, and after slamming his fist into the side of Naruto's face, ran over to assist him.

"Sorai!"

"I'm fine!" the now named grass nin replied, "What happened to your mask?"

"That stupid bitch blew it up!"

"Damn."

See, Asahara Sorai specialized in using poison, as he was physically a lot weaker than his brother Naoki, and used it to support him. To prevent his brother from being affected by said poisons, he made a special mask that would filter out the airborne ones, as all the others required direct contact or injection to work.

With that mask gone, he didn't dare use the airborne poisons he was carrying, as he didn't want to accidentally kill his brother with them. That left him with the contact and injection poisons, but those were a lot more difficult to use. The contact ones he had on him were pretty weak, and the combination of headache and rib injury lowered his chances of getting anyone with a needle.

Sorai was cut of from further thoughts at that point by Takara closing with him again, and he did his best to defend his ribs and face, though Takara was fast enough to still connect frequently. Fortunately for him that speed came at the price of power, and each hit didn't do that much damage.

Well, up until she kicked him in the side of the head, anyway. That hit sent him spinning through the air, and also managed to finally dislodge his sedge hat, which Takara plucked out of the air, and set on her own head, right as Sorai slammed into a tree, sending him into unconsciousness.

Tenten saw Naruto get hit in the face, and quickly moved to intercept Naoki before he could help his brother. She threw several kunai with fake exploding tags in front of him with one hand to cut him off, hoping he would fall for the diversion, and prepared to draw her katana.

Unfortunately for her, Naoki didn't change direction like she thought he would. Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face her, revealing his rather large fist cocked back. Unable to stop before getting within his range, she threw her arms up to protect her face, and hoped for the best.

Despite getting her guard up in time, Naoki's fist still had enough force to send her flying back into a tree, which knocked the wind out of her. Naoki was unable to use the opening that his hit provided, though, as a rather large log was smashed into the back of his head, courtesy of Naruto.

Naoki rolled forwards with the impact, and reached into one of his equipment pouches as he did so. He turned to face Naruto as soon as he was standing again, and revealed what he had retrieved.

His hands were now covered in armored gauntlets, the fists of which were made of steel.

He then charged Naruto, with his steel fists leading the way. Naruto did his best to evade, as Naoki was more of a power hitter than a speed hitter, but the blond nin eventually took a glancing hit to his right shoulder. The hit, even though it wasn't a direct impact, spun him around from the force, and almost tore his arm out of its socket.

Once again Naoki was prevented from following up on an opening, this time by Takara, who used the impact chakra she had built up while fighting his brother to spray some fire at him. She wasn't close enough for the fire to reach him, as her range was only about ten feet, but it did scare him enough to get him to back off of Naruto for a moment.

"Are you alright, Naruto?"

"My shoulder hurts like hell, and I think he cracked my jaw, but otherwise I'm fine," he replied as he stood up. "How about you?"

She just looked at her feet, which were red and had a couple of blisters on them. "Nothing I can't handle at the moment," she replied.

"Go check on Ten-chan; he nailed her pretty good a little bit ago. I'll take care of this guy."

"You sure? You don't seem to be doing so hot so far."

"I'm about to show you why Anko-sensei always puts limits on my clones in spars."

Naruto then began to gather his chakra, and Takara watched in amazement as the blond prepared his jutsu. She could physically _feel_ the chakra he was molding.

His hands came up into a cross-seal, and he shouted out, "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The forest surrounding them was blanketed with chakra smoke, totally obscuring the vision of all present. When it finally cleared, Naoki found himself surrounded by clones of the shirtless blond.

Takara was blown away. She knew that the regular Kage Bunshin technique was an upper B-ranked ninjutsu, and that it required a lot of chakra. She also knew that the mass version Naruto had just used was just a fraction below S-rank, and couldn't believe that he had the chakra to use it. Her regular jounin sensei couldn't even use it, and here was a genin using it like it didn't even affect him.

She watched in fascination as the legion of Naruto's began to face off against Naoki. She knew from sparring with the blond that the clones were rather easy to defeat individually, but against a couple hundred at once?

Naoki was getting irritated. The clones were easy to defeat, but they just never seemed to end! He was also getting tired, as his steel fisted gauntlets were heavy, and his fingers were cramping up.

That was the trade-off with his gloves. His hands were almost completely protected from damage, but he couldn't actually move them while the gauntlets were on, as the fist was solid. Even the wrist barely moved.

The clones were taking advantage of his fatigue too, as they were hitting him more and more often, and less of them were being dispelled. His attacks were getting sloppy as well, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake.

His next strike proved to be that mistake, as he overextended on a punch. A Naruto sank its fist into his gut, right as another one kicked him in the back of the knee, sending him crashing to the ground.

Seeing as Naoki was defeated, Naruto dispelled the remaining clones, and walked up to him just as he managed to crawl back up to his hands and knees.

"Give us your scroll and you can go," Naruto told him.

"F-Fuck you," Naoki hacked out, still trying to get his breath back. He managed to stagger to his feet, and began to stumble towards Naruto, with his fist cocked back. "Go to hell!"

Naruto just side-stepped the clumsy strike, and slammed his left fist into Naoki's temple, knocking him out cold.

He then dragged the unconscious nin over to his brother and tied them up. Once they were secure he began checking their gear for a scroll, and managed to find an earth scroll in an interior pocket of Naoki's heavy vest.

Tenten and Takara joined him at that point, and they took stock of their situation.

"You ok, Ten-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, he just knocked the wind out of me. What about you?"

"My shoulder hurts like hell, and I think he cracked my jaw, but that's about it. I had some burns from that explosion earlier, but those healed already."

"You heal that fast?"

An uncomfortable look briefly passed across Naruto's face before he answered, "Yeah. I don't really know why, but as long as it still works I'm not going to worry too much about it."

They slowly started walking back to the site of the first ambush, as that's where their packs and supplies were. Once they arrived, Naruto put his right arm in a sling, and Tenten set about bandaging Takara's feet and legs.

While waiting for Tenten to finish, Naruto pulled his two tanto from the remains of his shirt and jacket. Since the strap had been burned up in the explosion, he stuck one in the back of his belt, and slid the other one in his sling.

Tenten soon finished bandaging Takara, who was still wearing the sedge hat she had taken from Sorai, and they decided to wait until morning to set out again, as it was already getting dark. They knew that it would only take them a short amount of time to get to the tower, but they didn't want to risk traveling in the dark, especially with Naruto and Takara not at a hundred percent.

**AN: so? what do you all think? this was one of my first fight scenes, and id like to know how i did. sorai and naoki arent OC's, btw. if you watch the episode where all the people in the chunin exam show up theyre standing behind the disguised orochimaru. you gotta look pretty close though, as theyre only there for a couple of seconds. i did name them, though, as well as give them their abilities. i hope they werent too powerful.**

**as to naruto and takara taking wardrobe damage, ive noticed that clothing damage is the one thing naruto lacks almost entirely. the only instance i can think of where an explosion or jutsu effect casues clothing damage is when kakashi is fighting kakuzu, and his vest is destroyed. oh, and naruto's sage jacket when he fights pein. thats it. sure, they get cut up and dirty, but destroyed?  
**

**those physics are just messed up. i mean, when naruto goes 4 tails, it burns his skin off, but doesnt damage his clothes at all? how many people get hit by fire attacks and come out the other side simply covered in soot?**

**maybe im just not getting something, but that just struck me as odd.  
**


End file.
